TY - JOUR
T1 - Online Behaviours during the COVID-19 Pandemic and Their Associations with Psychological Factors: An International Exploratory Study
AU - Burkauskas, Julius
AU - Fineberg, Naomi
AU - Ioannidis, Konstantinos
AU - Chamberlain, Samuel
AU - Bowden-Jones, Henrietta
AU - Griskova-Bulanova, Inga
AU - Pranckeviciene, Aiste
AU - Dores, Artemisa
AU - Carvalho, Irene
AU - Barbosa, Fernando
AU - Simonato, Pierluigi
AU - De Luca, Ilaria
AU - Mooney, Rosin
AU - Gómez-Martínez, Maria
AU - Demetrovics, Zsolt
AU - Ábel, Krisztina
AU - Szabo, Attila
AU - Fujiwara, Hironobu
AU - Shibata, Mami
AU - Melero-Ventola, Alejandra
AU - Arroyo-Anlló, Eva
AU - Santos-Labrador, Ricardo
AU - Kobayashi, Kei
AU - Di Carlo, Francesco
AU - Monteiro, Cristina
AU - Martinotti, Giovanni
AU - Corazza, Ornella
N1 - © 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)
Funding Information:
This publication is based upon work from COST Action CA16207 “European Network for Problematic Usage of the Internet”, supported by COST (European Cooperation in Science and Technology). www.cost.eu. A.R.D. was supported by Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT) through R&D Units funding (UIDB/05210/2020). Z.D.’s contribution was supported by the Hungarian National Research, Development and Innovation Office (KKP126835).
Funding Information:
In the past several years, J.B. has been serving as a consultant at Cronos. N.A.F. reports personal fees from Sun, Otsuka, Abbott, Lundbeck, Taylor and Francis, and Oxford University Press; grants and non-financial support from ECNP and Shire; personal fees and non-financial support from the College of Mental Health Pharmacists; non-financial support from RANZCP, Sun, RCPsych, CINP, Int Society of Behavioural Addiction, WHO, International College of Obsessive Compulsive Spectrum Disorders, BAP, Janssen, Int Forum of Mood and Anxiety Disorders, and Wiley; grants from MRC, Wellcome, others from MHRA, and others from outside the submitted work; and non-financial support from the EU COST Action. S.R.C.’s role in this work was funded by Wellcome (110049/Z/15/Z & A). S.R.C. receives honoraria for editorial work at Elsevier journals (Comprehensive Psychiatry, and Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews). He previously consulted for Promentis. The other authors declare no conflict of interest. O.C. received royalties from Routledge, Springer, Elsevier for editorial duties and advises the UK Parliament and the United Nations on addiction related matters. She held various research grants from the EU, WADA, University of Hertfordshire; and non-financial support from the EU COST Action.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 by the authors.
PY - 2022/7
Y1 - 2022/7
N2 - This cross-sectional study aimed to explore specific online behaviours and their association with a range of underlying psychological and other behavioural factors during the COVID-19 pandemic. Eight countries (Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom, Lithuania, Portugal, Japan, Hungary, and Brazil) participated in an international investigation involving 2223 participants (M = 33 years old; SD = 11), 70% of whom were females. Participants were surveyed for specific type of Internet use severity, appearance anxiety, self-compassion, and image and use of performance-enhancing drugs (IPEDs). Results were compared cross-culturally. The mean time spent online was 5 h (SD = ±3) of daily browsing during the pandemic. The most commonly performed activities included social networking, streaming, and general surfing. A strong association between these online behaviours and appearance anxiety, self-compassion, and IPEDs use was found after adjustment for possible confounders, with higher scores being associated with specific online activities. Significant cross-cultural differences also emerged in terms of the amount of time spent online during the initial stages of the COVID-19 pandemic.
AB - This cross-sectional study aimed to explore specific online behaviours and their association with a range of underlying psychological and other behavioural factors during the COVID-19 pandemic. Eight countries (Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom, Lithuania, Portugal, Japan, Hungary, and Brazil) participated in an international investigation involving 2223 participants (M = 33 years old; SD = 11), 70% of whom were females. Participants were surveyed for specific type of Internet use severity, appearance anxiety, self-compassion, and image and use of performance-enhancing drugs (IPEDs). Results were compared cross-culturally. The mean time spent online was 5 h (SD = ±3) of daily browsing during the pandemic. The most commonly performed activities included social networking, streaming, and general surfing. A strong association between these online behaviours and appearance anxiety, self-compassion, and IPEDs use was found after adjustment for possible confounders, with higher scores being associated with specific online activities. Significant cross-cultural differences also emerged in terms of the amount of time spent online during the initial stages of the COVID-19 pandemic.
KW - problematic usage of the Internet
KW - appearance anxiety
KW - COVID-19 pandemic
KW - mental illness
KW - self-compassion
UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/85135110278
U2 - 10.3390/ijerph19148823
DO - 10.3390/ijerph19148823
M3 - Article
SN - 1661-7827
VL - 19
JO - International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (IJERPH)
JF - International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (IJERPH)
IS - 14
M1 - e8823
ER -