Media use, positive and negative emotions, and stress levels of adults during COVID‐19 pandemic in Turkey: A cross‐sectional study

• Published in: International Journal of Nursing Practice Vol. 28; no. 2; pp. e13035 - n/a
• Main Authors: Akca, Ayşegül, Ayaz‐Alkaya, Sultan
• Format: Journal Article Web Resource
• Language: English
• Published: Australia John Wiley & Sons, Inc 01.04.2022; Wiley Subscription Services, Inc
• Subjects: Adult; Adults; Anxiety - epidemiology; Community organizations; COVID-19; COVID-19 - epidemiology; Cross-Sectional Studies; emotion; Emotions; Employment; Health needs; Humans; Marital status; media; Medical personnel; Mental health; Mental health promotion; Negative emotions; nursing; Pandemics; Policy making; Positive emotions; Stress; Turkey - epidemiology; Turkey; COVID-19; stress; nursing; emotion; media; mental health
• ISSN: 1322-7114; 1440-172X
• DOI: 10.1111/ijn.13035

Aim This study was conducted to determine media use, positive and negative emotions, and stress levels of adults during the COVID‐19 pandemic. Background Using media tools in the pandemic process has impacted the mental health of individuals. As the COVID‐19 outbreak is a new disease fear, anxiety and stress about this situation can cause strong emotions in adults. Methods The research was carried out using a cross‐sectional design. The sample consisted of 1541 adults. The Positive and Negative Emotion Scale, and the Perceived Stress Scale were used to collect the data. Results The Positive Emotion Scale mean scores were lower (p < 0.05) for those people whose daily media use time was more than 4 h and who followed the developments about COVID‐19 through the media once a day. It was found that those with daily media use of more than 4 h/day had higher Perceived Stress Scale scores than those with lower use (p > 0.05). Conclusion This study concluded that the use of media in adults increased during the COVID‐19 outbreak and that media use was associated with positive and negative emotions and stress levels. Health professionals should assess the effect of the COVID‐19 outbreak on mental health in various community groups and develop interventions to prevent negative consequences of increased media use. Summary statement What is already known about this topic? The mental health of adults in the community has been affected due to the unexpected COVID‐19 pandemic. The media use of adults staying at home during the pandemic has increased. The relationships between increasing media use and mental health needs during the COVID‐19 pandemic are yet to be revealed. What this paper adds? The positive emotion scores of adults with greater use of media tools during the COVID‐19 pandemic were lower. During the COVID‐19 pandemic, age, gender, education level, marital status, employment and income level affected the mean scores of negative emotions and perceived stress. The frequency by which people followed the developments regarding COVID‐19 from the media during the day was related to their emotional state. The implications of this paper Demonstrating that various characteristics of adults are related to mental health during the pandemic will guide researchers and policy makers for mental health promotion practices. The relationship between the frequency of use of media tools and positive emotions during the pandemic emphasizes the importance of providing reliable and sufficient information to individuals during the pandemic.