The COVID-19 pandemic: Electronic media use and health among US College students

Objective: To explore differences before and during the COVID-19 pandemic in electronic media use (i.e. TV watching, social media use, screen time), health (i.e. physical, behavioral, social, mental), and the relationship between them among college students. Participants: Nine hundred sixty-five Uni...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of American college health 2024-12, Vol.72 (9), p.3261-3276
Main Authors: Wright, Robert R., Larson, Jordan, Richards, Sarah, Larson, Shaylee, Nienstedt, Christian
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescent
Adult
College students
COVID-19
COVID-19 - epidemiology
COVID-19 pandemic
Cross-Sectional Studies
Electronic media
Female
health
Health behavior
Health Status
Humans
Male
Pandemics
SARS-CoV-2
Screen Time
Self Report
Social media
Social Media - statistics & numerical data
Social networks
Students - psychology
Students - statistics & numerical data
Surveys and Questionnaires
Television - statistics & numerical data
Television viewing
United States - epidemiology
Universities - statistics & numerical data
Young Adult
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Summary:Objective: To explore differences before and during the COVID-19 pandemic in electronic media use (i.e. TV watching, social media use, screen time), health (i.e. physical, behavioral, social, mental), and the relationship between them among college students. Participants: Nine hundred sixty-five United States college students with 367 participating before and 598 during the pandemic (after March 2020). Methods: Using a multiple cross-sectional design, participants completed an online self-report questionnaire and biometric data was gathered in-person for the Pre-COVID group. Results: During the pandemic, time spent watching TV and social media was 14% higher and total screen time was 30% higher (d = .39). Health variations were mixed with both adverse and beneficial differences. Most correlations between electronic media use and health variables were lower in strength during the pandemic. Conclusions: Differences between electronic media use and health before and during the pandemic suggest potential mixed effects of the pandemic on college student media use and health.
ISSN:0744-8481
1940-3208
1940-3208
DOI:10.1080/07448481.2022.2155463