The Impact of COVID-19 on Mental Health: The Role of Locus on Control and Internet Use

Abstract

The true extent of the mental health implications of the COVID-19 pandemic are unclear, but early evidence suggests poorer mental health among those exposed to the pandemic. The Internet may have differential effects, by both connecting people with resources, or reinforce the constant checking of negative information. Moreover, locus of control becomes important in an uncontrollable pandemic. The current study aimed to examine whether exposure to COVID-19 would relate to greater symptoms of depression, anxiety and stress, and to examine the role of internet use and locus of control. Adults in the United States and five European countries (N = 1723) answered an online survey through the website Mturk. Results show elevated psychological symptoms among those who have become infected with COVID-19 or perceive themselves to be at high risk if infected. Experience using the Internet relates to fewer symptoms, but information seeking is associated with more symptoms. Internet social capital relates to fewer symptoms of depression. Having an external locus of control relates to greater symptoms. These findings suggest that public health officials need to focus on the mental health effects of the pandemic, and that internet use and locus of control could be targets to improve mental health in the population.

The Association between Future Anxiety, Health Literacy and the Perception of the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Cross-Sectional Study

“…Similar results were reported by other authors [10,92]. In addition, Sigurvinsdottir et al reported that information seeking may be associated with more symptoms of depression, anxiety or stress [93].…”

Exploring the Impact of COVID-19 Hoax on the Mental Health of Millennial Moms

“…However, the implication of COVID-19 mental health impact has not been clarified. The early evidence from China showed that people had reported an increased rate of anxiety, depression, stress, and psychological burden symptoms (Sigurvinsdottir et al, 2020). The increasing mental health problems due to COVID-19 were also found in European adult people (Smith et al, 2020) and the United ICoPsy States of America.…”

“…Since March 2020, Corona (SARS-CoV-2) has been a global pandemic and greatly impacts the social health system in many countries (Tasnim, Hossain, & Mazumder, 2020). The pandemic has a never-experienced impact on individual physical health in all countries, with millions of confirmed cases and thousands of mortality cases (Sigurvinsdottir, Thorisdottir, & Gylfason, 2020). COVID-19 impacts are mostly correlated to death and economic aspect.…”

“…Social media is deemed able to mediate efficiently (Braun, Tricklebank, & Clarke, 2013). In this perspective, social media becomes a useful meant for society during this pandemic (Sigurvinsdottir et al, 2020).…”

“…An interesting finding showed that anxious individuals would seek more information from the Internet or social media. However, such information during the pandemic could trigger that anxious feeling (Drouin et al, 2020;Sigurvinsdottir et al, 2020). Thus, social media usages could be positive and negative during this pandemic.…”