Social Media and COVID-19

Completed

• Conditions: Coronavirus; Stress; Depression; Anxiety
• Interventions: Behavioral: Social media & news consumption

• Registration Number: NCT04367363
• Lead Sponsor: Jean Liu

Brief Summary

In this protocol, we seek to examine the role of popular messaging platform WhatsApp in information spread during a crisis. As there have been few global crises in the last decade (coinciding with the rise of social media), the role of private messaging platforms such as WhatsApp during crisis contexts remains understudied. During the current COVID-19 global health crisis, we undertook this study to: (1) characterize the nature of WhatsApp use during crises, (2) characterize the profiles of WhatsApp users (3) understand how WhatsApp usage links to well-being (fear and thoughts about COVID-19).

Detailed Description

Not available

Study Timeline

• Study Start: 2020-03-17
• Study First Submitted: 2020-04-17
• Study First Submitted QC: 2020-04-28
• Study First Posted: 2020-04-29
• Primary Completion: 2020-05-07
• Study Completion: 2020-05-31
• Status Verified: 2020-12
• Last Update Submitted: 2020-12-27
• Last Update Posted: 2020-12-29

Recruitment & Eligibility

• Status: COMPLETED
• Sex: All
• Target Recruitment: 151

Inclusion Criteria

• At least 21 years
• Has stayed in Singapore for at least 2 years
• Has a WhatsApp account that can be used for the research study

Exclusion Criteria

• Below 21 years
• Has stayed in Singapore for less than 2 years
• Does not have a WhatsApp account that can be used for the research study

Study & Design

• Study Type: OBSERVATIONAL
• Study Design: Not specified

Arm && Interventions

Group	Intervention	Description
Community sample	Social media & news consumption	We plan to recruit a representative sample of the Singapore population.

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
WhatsApp usage	1 week, starting from date after baseline survey completion	Participants were asked a series of questions daily related to their WhatsApp usage behaviors - in particular, their message-forwarding, personal chat and group chat behaviors.
Changes in amount of thinking about the COVID-19 situation across 1 week	1 week, starting from date after initial survey completion	1 item each day on how much they thought about the outbreak that day (measured on a 5 point scale: min = 1, max = 5; higher scores indicating more thinking about the outbreak).
Changes in fear with regards the COVID-19 situation across 1 week	1 week, starting from date after baseline survey completion	1 item each day on fear specifically of the COVID-19 situation (measured on a 4 point scale: min = 1, max = 4; higher scores indicating greater fear about the outbreak).

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

Yale-NUS College; 🇸🇬 Singapore, Singapore