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Eur J Psychotraumatol. 2020 Jul 07;11(1):1769379. doi: 10.1080/20008198.2020.1769379.

Psychological distress and state boredom during the COVID-19 outbreak in China: the role of meaning in life and media use.

European journal of psychotraumatology

Miao Chao, Xueming Chen, Tour Liu, Haibo Yang, Brian J Hall

Affiliations

  1. Key Research Base of Humanities and Social Sciences of the Ministry of Education, Academy of Psychology and Behavior, Tianjin Normal University, Tianjin, China.
  2. Faculty of Psychology, Tianjin Normal University, Tianjin, China.
  3. Center of Collaborative Innovation for Assessment and Promotion of Mental Health, Tianjin, China.
  4. Global and Community Mental Health Research Group, Department of Psychology, University of Macau, Macao (SAR), China.

PMID: 33029315 PMCID: PMC7473057 DOI: 10.1080/20008198.2020.1769379

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Epidemics are associated with increased burden of psychological distress. However, the role of boredom on mental health during epidemic periods has seldom been explored.

OBJECTIVE: This study attempted to examine the effect of state boredom on psychological outcomes, and the role of media use and meaning in life among the indirectly exposed Chinese adults in the initial phase of the COVID-19 outbreak.

METHOD: An online survey was administered to 917 Chinese adults on 28 January 2020 (1 week after the official declaration of person-to-person transmission of the coronavirus). Self-report questionnaires were used to assess state boredom, anxiety, depression, stress, media use and meaning in life. Moderated mediation analysis was conducted.

RESULTS: Our results indicated that the effect of state boredom on anxiety and stress, but not depression, were mediated by media use and that sense of meaning in life modified this association. Meaning in life served as a risk factor, rather than a protective factor for the negative psychological outcomes when people experienced boredom. The association between boredom and media use was significant for high but not low meaning in life individuals.

CONCLUSION: These findings demonstrated that boredom and media use were associated with an increased burden or psychological distress in the sample. It is important to pay attention to the possible negative impact of boredom and media use during COVID-19, and find more ways to cope with boredom, especially those with high presence of meaning in life.

© 2020 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

Keywords: Boredom; COVID-19; disaster; meaning in life; media use; mental health; • State boredom during the outbreak was associated with psychological distress.• Disaster-related media use mediated the relationship between state boredom and stress and anxiety.• Meaning in life served as a risk factor for the negative psychological out

Conflict of interest statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

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