ArticleBMC psychology2022
Social media use, and fear of COVID-19 among Ghanaian university students: the moderating role of gender.
Article in BMC psychology, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.
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Who cites it
3 citing papers in PubMed.
- Using social media platforms to prepare for examinations post Covid-19: The case of saudi university EFL learners.Heliyon · 2023Article
- Social Media Use, Fake News and Mental Health during the Uncertain Times of the COVID-19 Pandemic in Ukraine.Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- COVID-19 fear among junior undergraduate nursing students during the pandemic in South Africa.Health SA = SA Gesondheid · 2023Article
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Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
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Abstract
backgroundCOVID-19 and its associated social restrictive measures and lockdowns exacerbated the use of social media and other technological facilities for communication. This study, therefore, examined Ghanaian students' social media use and its relationship with fear of COVID-19, paying close attention to the moderating role of gender.
methodsA correlational online survey was used to collect data from a purposive sample of 209 University students in June and July 2020. Participants completed online measures on social media use and fear of COVID-19. Statistical analyses including independent-t test, Pearson correlation test and moderation analysis in PROCESS were conducted using SPSS v.24.
resultsFindings revealed that the mean scores of social media use and fear of COVID-19 did not statistically differ by gender. However, social media use had a small and positive association with fear of COVID-19 (r = 0.18, p = 0.009). Furthermore, gender was a significant moderator of the relationship between social media use and fear of COVID-19. Specifically, the increased use of social media resulted in greater experiences of fearing COVID-19 for females (B = - 0.24, p = 0.034) compared to males.
conclusionAlthough social media was useful in connecting with people and accessing pandemic-related information, our findings clearly suggest that overuse or over-engagement with social media was problematic, especially for females. Aside from developing interventions to reduce students' fears of COVID-19, appropriate usage of social media should be advocated.
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