ArticlePloS one2021
Psychosocial effects of social media on the Saudi society during the Coronavirus Disease 2019 pandemic: A cross-sectional study.
Article in PloS one, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 23 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
23 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 56 citations in OpenAlex.
- COVID-19 news consumption and distress in young people: A systematic review.Journal of affective disorders · 2022Pooled it
- Associations between susceptibility to online health misinformation, health risk behaviors and vaccine hesitancy among nursing students in Greece.Frontiers in psychology · 2026Article
- Navigating the Maze of Social Media Disinformation on Psychiatric Illness and Charting Paths to Reliable Information for Mental Health Professionals: Observational Study of TikTok Videos.Journal of medical Internet research · 2025Observational
- High frequency and duration of social media exposure during the COVID- 19 pandemic are associated with mental health problems among employees at an Egyptian university.The Journal of the Egyptian Public Health Association · 2025Article
- Media consumption patterns and depressive and anxiety symptoms in the Chinese general population during the COVID-19 outbreak.World journal of psychiatry · 2025Article
- Nurse-led social media-based education in diabetic patients: Effects on COVID-19 fear and self-care - A 6-month follow-up trial.Journal of education and health promotion · 2025Article
- Unveiling the Moderating Factors in the Relationship between Physical Activity and Health-Related Quality of Life among University Students during COVID-19: A Mixed Study Design.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- Trust in information sources as a moderator of the impact of COVID-19 anxiety and exposure to information on conspiracy thinking and misinformation beliefs: a multilevel study.BMC psychology · 2023Article
- The Impact of Information About COVID-19 on the Endocrine Stress System and Cognitive Distortions.Hormone and metabolic research = Hormon- und Stoffwechselforschung = Hormones et metabolisme · 2023Article
- Association between media exposure and behavioral problems among preschool children.Frontiers in psychology · 2023Article
- A social network analysis: mental health scales used during the COVID-19 pandemic.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2023Article
- Impact of social media on mental health of the general population during Covid-19 pandemic: A systematic review.Journal of education and health promotion · 2023Review
- A four-level meta-analytic review of the relationship between social media and well-being: a fresh perspective in the context of COVID-19.Current psychology (New Brunswick, N.J.) · 2022Article
- From text to e-text: perceptions of medical, dental and allied students about e-learning.Heliyon · 2022Article
- Social media use, and fear of COVID-19 among Ghanaian university students: the moderating role of gender.BMC psychology · 2022Article
- Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices concerning Black Fungus during COVID-19 Pandemic among Students of Bangladesh: An Online-Based Cross-Sectional Survey.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Article
- Article
- A proposal to activate the role of early intervention programs for the rehabilitation of mothers of children with Down syndrome, in light of the Saudi vision 2030.Journal of education and health promotion · 2022Article
- Prevalence and Factors of Anxiety During the Coronavirus-2019 Pandemic Among Teachers in Saudi Arabia.Frontiers in public health · 2022Article
- COVID-19 news valence effects on emotion and its modulation by a relaxation: A randomized online experiment during COVID-19 pandemic.Internet interventions · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
2 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has been posing a substantial challenge to human survival and well-being, which rely on the actions and behaviors of individuals. It is essential that accurate information is distributed; however, misinformation has been spread via social media. Consequently, the resulting panic has to be addressed while putting essential public health measures in place. It is also important to explore the link between the social media exposure and well-being. Therefore, in the current study, we aimed to identify the levels of anxiety, depression, and social isolation among individuals during the COVID-19 pandemic. Additionally, we explored the relationship between exposure to misleading social media news and anxiety, depression, and social isolation. A cross sectional design was employed to collect data from 371 Saudi participants (aged 16-60 years), using the Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7, Centre for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale, and de Jong Gierveld Loneliness Scale. Results showed that the prevalence of anxiety, depression, and social isolation was 47.82%, 47.57%, and 46.42%, respectively. Further, more than 83% of the participants reported using social media frequently during the pandemic. We found that exposure to misinformation via social media has a significant positive relationship with anxiety, depression, and social isolation. However, Due to the cross-sectional nature of this study it cannot be determined whether social media causes negative mental health outcomes, or if individuals experiencing greater depression, anxiety and social isolation turn to social media more than others, or if some third variable might explain both. Based on our findings, we present specific suggestions related to the COVID-19 pandemic to the government of Saudi Arabia. Minoring and filtering out misleading information with the cooperation of the World Health Organization (WHO) can promote the spread of accurate news in Saudi Arabia.
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Registered trials
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