The Effect of Concerns About COVID-19 on Anxiety, Stress, Parental Burnout, and Emotion Regulation: The Role of Susceptibility to Digital Emotion Contagion.

Alena Prikhidko,Michael G Wheaton,Haiying Long

doi:10.3389/fpubh.2020.567250

Alena Prikhidko, Michael G Wheaton + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2020.567250

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Abstract

Background and aims: The COVID-19 pandemic has caused social and economic turmoil, which has led to enormous strain for many families. Past work with pandemic outbreaks suggests that media attention can increase anxiety and compensatory behaviors. Social isolation can lead to increase in online communication and parents who use social media may be affected by other people's emotions online through what is known as digital emotion contagion (DEC). The current study aimed to examine the role of DEC in the relationship between stress, concern about COVID-19, parental burnout and emotion regulation (ER).Methods: In April 2020, an online survey was advertised in Social Media Parenting Groups and published on FIU Psychology online research system SONA. Data were analyzed using correlational analysis, linear and multiple linear regression, and moderation analysis.Results: Concern about COVID-19 predicted stress, depression, and parental burnout. Susceptibility to DEC significantly increased the impact of stress on parental burnout. Having relatives infected with COVID-19 increased the effect of DEC on parental burnout. A higher level of ER buffered the relationship between emotion contagion and concern about COVID-19.Conclusion: These findings suggest that susceptibility to digital emotion contagion may have a negative effect on parents. Digital emotion contagion may increase parental burnout and is tied to stress.

Highlights

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused social and economic turmoil, which has led to enormous strain for many families [1, 2]
Linear regression analysis examined whether concern about COVID-19 predicted stress and depression
The results showed that a higher level of emotion regulation (ER) reduced the relationship between digital emotion contagion and concern about COVID-19, ER may have a positive effect on this relationship

Summary

Introduction

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused social and economic turmoil, which has led to enormous strain for many families [1, 2]. It is important to study the ways that American families have been affected by the COVID-19 outbreak to determine how concerns about or fears of the virus may have led to excessive anxiety, stress, and parental burnout and to understand whether parental emotion regulation (ER) strategies may have buffered these effects. The majority of contact occurs via the internet, which was actively used by mothers before the Pandemic: during the year 2018, 59% of U.S mothers accessed social media several times per day, and spent 214 min browsing the internet on a daily basis [7] It is worth considering the ways in which digital connections may have affected mental health. Social isolation can lead to increase in online communication and parents who use social media may be affected by other people’s emotions online through what is known as digital emotion contagion (DEC). The current study aimed to examine the role of DEC in the relationship between stress, concern about COVID-19, parental burnout and emotion regulation (ER)

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Discussion

Conclusion