Relationship between information sources, and resilience, with anxiety during the COVID-19 pandemic: an online investigation

Over-exposure to misinformation or various information resources about covid-19 might cause mental health problems. The present study was conducted to investigate the relationship between information sources and resilience on the severity of general anxiety in people living in Tehran during the covid-19 pandemic. 

A cross-sectional study was conducted in Tehran in 1400. Samples were adults over 18 years old. The data was collected via Interment. The link of electronic questionnaires was shared through social media such as WhatsApp, Telegram and Instagram. We asked the participant to answer the questionnaires through the link provided. We collected data on demographic information, and sources of the information. In addition, the General Anxiety Disorders (GAD-7) and the Brief Resilience Scale (BRS) Questionnaires were administered. Descriptive analysis and logistic regression were performed to analyze the data using the SPSS software version 23.

In all 400 adults were participated in the study. The mean age of the participants was 32.17± 12.42 years. The findings showed that, 23.8% of the respondent used social media for information about Covid-19, and 21.0% used news agencies or web sites. The mean GAD score was 6.16±3.76 indicating that 139 participants (34.8%) had minimum anxiety, 199 (49.8%) had mild anxiety, 48 (12%) had moderate anxiety and 14 (3.5%) had severe anxiety. Also, the mean BRS score was 3.14±0.63 indicating that 138 (34.5%) had low resilience, 248 (62.0%) had normal resilience, and 14 (3.5%) had high resilience. Logistic regression analysis showed that a significant association exists between decreased anxiety and higher resilience (P < 0.0001), and increased anxiety with more social media use (P = 0.005).

The source of information and resilience affected anxiety during the covid-19 pandemic. People who spent more time on social media during the corona epidemic experienced higher anxiety. The findings also confirmed that more resilience is effective in reducing the severity of anxiety.