Online Behaviours during the COVID-19 pandemic and their associations with psychological factors: an international exploratory study

• Autor(a) principal: J. Burkauskas
• Data de Publicação: 2022
• Outros Autores: N. A. Fineberg, K. Ioannidis, S. R. Chamberlain, H. Bowden-Jones, I. Griskova-Bulanova, A. Pranckeviciene, Artemisa Dores, Irene Carvalho, Fernando Barbosa, P. Simonato, I. De Luca, R. Mooney, M. A. Gomez-Martinez, Z. Demetrovics, K. E. Abel, A. Szabo, H. Fujiwara, M. Shibata, A. R. Melero-Ventola, E. M. Arroyo-Anllo, R. M. Santos-Labrador, K. Kobayashi, F. Di Carlo, C. Monteiro, G. Martinotti, O. Corazza
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)
• Texto Completo: https://hdl.handle.net/10216/156756

This cross-sectional study aimed to explore specific online behaviours and their association with a range of underlying psychological and other behavioural factors during the COVID-19 pandemic. Eight countries (Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom, Lithuania, Portugal, Japan, Hungary, and Brazil) participated in an international investigation involving 2223 participants (M = 33 years old; SD = 11), 70% of whom were females. Participants were surveyed for specific type of Internet use severity, appearance anxiety, self-compassion, and image and use of performance-enhancing drugs (IPEDs). Results were compared cross-culturally. The mean time spent online was 5 h (SD = +/- 3) of daily browsing during the pandemic. The most commonly performed activities included social networking, streaming, and general surfing. A strong association between these online behaviours and appearance anxiety, self-compassion, and IPEDs use was found after adjustment for possible confounders, with higher scores being associated with specific online activities. Significant cross-cultural differences also emerged in terms of the amount of time spent online during the initial stages of the COVID-19 pandemic.