Disaster Mental Health
Emily Judd, B.A.
Doctoral Student
Montclair State University
Princeton, New Jersey
Melissa Escobar, M.A.
Graduate Student
Montclair State University
Bloomfield, New Jersey
Jazmin Reyes-Portillo, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Montclair State University
Montclair, New Jersey
Carrie Masia, Ph.D.
Professor
Montclair State University
Millburn, New Jersey
At the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, college students’ lives were significantly disrupted by lockdown restrictions, and depression and anxiety symptoms soared. One contributor to worsening mental health was COVID-19 infection worry (oneself and/or family members becoming infected with COVID-19). During this time, news sources disseminated vastly different information about the outbreak, from President Trump to The New York Times. Infection worry, as well as mental health, may have been impacted by the source of COVID-19 information due to the varied information being disseminated. In April-May 2020, a diverse sample of college students (n = 4714) from universities in New York and New Jersey completed an online survey assessing their sources of COVID-19 information, infection worry, and changes in depression and anxiety. Depression and anxiety symptoms were summed to create a Depression/Anxiety score based on the PHQ-4.
A multiple regression model was computed to examine the association between Depression/Anxiety score, Infection Worry, and nine COVID-19 Information Sources. The model was statistically significant (F(10, 4437) = 40.571, p < .001, adj. R2 = .082) and accounted for 8.2% of the variance. Infection Worry was significantly associated with increased Depression/Anxiety (β = 0.227), as well as five of the nine COVID-19 Information Sources: Print or Online News (β = 0.052), State Government Officials (β = 0.051), Medical/Health Websites (β = 0.051), University Communications (β = 0.035), and Social Media (β = 0.032). President Trump (β = -0.079) was the only source associated with decreased Depression/Anxiety.
Exploratory mediation analyses were conducted to determine whether Infection Worry mediated the relationship between COVID-19 Information Sources and Depression/Anxiety. Bonferroni corrections were used to correct alpha levels for each variable such that .05 was divided by five. Infection Worry partially mediated the relationship between COVID-19 Information Source (i.e., Print or Online News, State Government Officials, Medial/Health Websites, University Communications, and President Trump) and Depression/Anxiety.
While most COVID-19 Information Sources were related to increased Depression/Anxiety, obtaining COVID-19 information from President Trump was not. Level of Infection Worry partially explained the impact of COVID-19 Information Source on Depression/Anxiety. Future research should assess how information sources affect pandemic-related health behaviors and long-term mental health.