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Social Media Activities, Emotion Regulation Strategies, and Their Interactions on People’s Mental Health in COVID-19 Pandemic

Author

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  • Yang Yang

    (Institute of Advanced Studies in Humanities and Social Sciences, Beijing Normal University at Zhuhai, Zhuhai 519087, China
    Research Institute of Science Education, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China
    Both Yang and Liu are regarded as the first authors.)

  • Keqiao Liu

    (School of Public Finance and Public Administration, Jiangxi University of Finance and Economics, Nanchang 330013, China
    Both Yang and Liu are regarded as the first authors.)

  • Siqi Li

    (Research Institute of Science Education, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China
    College of Education for the Future, Beijing Normal University at Zhuhai, Zhuhai 519087, China
    Li′s research work for this paper was mainly done in affiliation 4.)

  • Man Shu

    (Institute of Psychological Quality and Education, East China Jiaotong University, Nanchang 330013, China)

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has dramatically changed the general population’s life worldwide. People may spend more time on social media because of policies like “work at home”. Using a cross-sectional dataset collected through an online survey in February 2020, in China, we examined (1) the relationships between social media activities and people’s mental health status and (2) the moderation effect of emotional-regulation strategies. The sample included people aged ≥18 years from 32 provinces and regions in China (N = 3159). The inferential analyses included a set of multiple linear regressions with interactions. Our results showed that sharing timely, accurate, and positive COVID-19 information, reducing excessive discussions on COVID-19, and promoting caring online interactions rather than being judgmental, might positively associate with the general public’s psychological well-being. Additionally, the relationships between social media activities and psychological well-being varied at different emotion-regulation strategy levels. Adopting the cognitive reappraisal strategy might allay the adverse relationships between certain social media activities and mental health indicators. Our findings expanded the theory of how social media activities can be associated with a human being’s mental health and how it can interact with emotion-regulation strategies during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Suggested Citation

  • Yang Yang & Keqiao Liu & Siqi Li & Man Shu, 2020. "Social Media Activities, Emotion Regulation Strategies, and Their Interactions on People’s Mental Health in COVID-19 Pandemic," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(23), pages 1-16, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:17:y:2020:i:23:p:8931-:d:454344
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