The effect of social media and infodemic on mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic: results from the COMET multicentric trial

Gaia Sampogna; Matteo Di Vincenzo; Mario Luciano; Bianca Della Rocca; Umberto Albert; Claudia Carmassi; Giuseppe Carrà; Francesca Cirulli; Bernardo Dell'Osso; Maria Giulia Nanni; Maurizio Pompili; Gabriele Sani; Alfonso Tortorella; Umberto Volpe; Andrea Fiorillo

doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2023.1226414

The effect of social media and infodemic on mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic: results from the COMET multicentric trial

Front Psychiatry. 2023 Jul 27:14:1226414. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2023.1226414. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Gaia Sampogna¹, Matteo Di Vincenzo¹, Mario Luciano¹, Bianca Della Rocca¹, Umberto Albert^{2

3}, Claudia Carmassi⁴, Giuseppe Carrà⁵, Francesca Cirulli⁶, Bernardo Dell'Osso^{7

8}, Maria Giulia Nanni⁹, Maurizio Pompili¹⁰, Gabriele Sani^{11

12

13}, Alfonso Tortorella¹⁴, Umberto Volpe¹⁵, Andrea Fiorillo¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Psychiatry, University of Campania "L. Vanvitelli", Naples, Italy.
² Department of Medicine, Surgery and Health Sciences, University of Trieste, Trieste, Italy.
³ Department of Mental Health, Azienda Sanitaria Universitaria Giuliano Isontina-ASUGI, Trieste, Italy.
⁴ Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy.
⁵ Department of Medicine and Surgery, University of Milan Bicocca, Milan, Italy.
⁶ Center for Behavioral Sciences and Mental Health, National Institute of Health, Rome, Italy.
⁷ Neuroscience Research Center, Department of Biomedical and Clinical Sciences and Aldo Ravelli Center for Neurotechnology and Brain Therapeutic, University of Milan, Milano, Italy.
⁸ Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Sciences, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, United States.
⁹ Department of Neurosciences and Rehabilitation, Institute of Psychiatry, University of Ferrara, Ferrara, Italy.
¹⁰ Department of Neurosciences, Mental Health and Sensory Organs, Faculty of Medicine and Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy.
¹¹ Department of Neuroscience, Section of Psychiatry, University Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Rome, Italy.
¹² Department of Neuroscience, Sensory Organs and Thorax, Fondazione Policlinico A. Gemelli IRCCS, Rome, Italy.
¹³ Department of Psychiatry, Fondazione Policlinico A. Gemelli IRCCS, Rome, Italy.
¹⁴ Department of Psychiatry, University of Perugia, Perugia, Italy.
¹⁵ Clinical Psychiatry Unit, Department of Clinical Neurosciences, Università Politecnica delle Marche, Ancona, Italy.

Abstract

On January 30, 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the status of pandemic due to the COVID-19 infection. The initial phases of the pandemic were characterized by uncertainty and public fears. In order to cope with such unexpected conditions, people adopted different coping strategies, including search for information, accessing Internet, and using social media. The present study based on the COMET collaborative research network aims to: (1) assess use of Internet and of social media among the Italian general population; (2) explore differences in web usage between people with pre-existing mental disorders and the general population; (3) identify changes over time in social media usage along the phase 1 of the pandemic; (4) identify the clinical, socio-demographic and contextual predictors of excessive use of social media. A significant increase in time spent on Internet, with an average time of 4.8 ± 0.02 h per day, was found in the global sample of 20,720 participants. Compared with the general population, Internet use was significantly higher in people with pre-existing mental disorders (5.2 ± 0.1 h vs. 4.9 ± 0.02; p < 0.005). According to the multivariate logistic regression model, the risk of excessive use of social media and Internet was significantly higher in people with moderate levels of depressive symptoms (OR: 1.26, CI 95%: 0.99 to 1.59, p < 0.0.005); while protective factors were being students (OR: 0.72, CI 95%: 0.53 to 0.96, p < 0.0029) and living in central Italy (OR: 0.46, CI 95%: 0.23 to 0.90, p < 0.002). The evaluation of social media and Internet use by the general population represents a first step for developing specific protective and supportive interventions for the general population, including practical suggestions on how to safely use Internet and social media.

Keywords: depression; infodemic; mental health; pandemic; social media usage; stress; trauma-related symptoms.