Social Media as a Coping Mechanism during COVID-19 and Anxiety re-entering Social Situations

Kavanagh, Louise (2022) Social Media as a Coping Mechanism during COVID-19 and Anxiety re-entering Social Situations. Undergraduate thesis, Dublin, National College of Ireland.

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Abstract

Aims: This study aimed to assess the extent to which the Irish population relied on social media as a coping mechanism during the COVID-19 lockdown periods by utilizing the Brief-Coping Scale. Secondly, this study aims to assess these individuals’ anxiety levels as they re-entered social situations using the Social Interaction Anxiety Scale (SIAS). The ultimate aim of this study is to establish whether there is a link between the participants’ Brief-Coping Scale scores and their SIAS scores.

Method: An online questionnaire was used in this study, which included demographic questions, and adapted versions of the Brief-Coping Scale and SIAS. One hundred twenty-two participants in total were recruited.

Results: This study found a positive correlation between an individual’s Brief-Coping Scores and their SIAS scores, indicating that higher reliance on social media as a coping mechanism leads to higher social interaction anxiety levels. Gender was also found to impact SIAS scores, with females tending to score higher. However, age and the time an individual spends online did not appear to affect SIAS scores.

Conclusions: The findings of this study provide greater insight into how the Irish population relied on social media as a coping mechanism throughout the COVID-19 lockdown periods. This study has practical implications for the potential positive uses of social media, which will be discussed.

Item Type:	Thesis (Undergraduate)
Subjects:	B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > Psychology B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > Psychology > Emotions Z Bibliography. Library Science. Information Resources > ZA Information resources > ZA4150 Computer Network Resources > The Internet > World Wide Web > Websites > Online social networks T Technology > TK Electrical engineering. Electronics. Nuclear engineering > Telecommunications > The Internet > World Wide Web > Websites > Online social networks
Divisions:	School of Business > BA (Honours) in Psychology
Depositing User:	Clara Chan
Date Deposited:	11 Jul 2022 14:58
Last Modified:	11 Jul 2022 14:58
URI:	https://norma.ncirl.ie/id/eprint/5647

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