How Does Psychological Distress Due to the COVID-19 Pandemic Impact on Internet Addiction and Instagram Addiction in Emerging Adults?

International research has underlined a worrying increase in Internet and Instagram addiction among emerging adults during the COVID-19 pandemic. Although the role played by alexithymia and psychological distress due to COVID-19 has been evidenced, no study has explored their complex relationship in predicting emerging adults’ Internet and Instagram addiction. The present study aimed to verify whether peritraumatic distress due to the COVID-19 pandemic mediated the relationship between emerging adults’ alexithymia and their Internet/Instagram addiction, in a sample composed of n = 400 Italian emerging adults. Results showed that females had higher peritraumatic distress due to COVID-19 than males, whereas males had higher externally oriented thinking and higher levels of Internet addiction than females. Emerging adults’ psychological distress due to COVID-19 significantly mediated the effect of alexithymia on Internet and Instagram addiction. Our findings supported the presence of a dynamic relationship between individual vulnerabilities and the co-occurrence of other psychological difficulties in predicting emerging adults’ Internet and Instagram addiction during the pandemic, with important clinical implications.

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The COVID-19 Pandemic and Its Impact on Families’ Mental Health: The Role Played by Parenting Stress, Parents’ Past Trauma, and Resilience

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health ◽

10.3390/ijerph182111450 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 18 (21) ◽

pp. 11450

Author(s):

Eleonora Marzilli ◽

Luca Cerniglia ◽

Renata Tambelli ◽

Elena Trombini ◽

Leonardo De Pascalis ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Parenting Stress ◽

Online Survey ◽

Psychological Impact ◽

Protective Role ◽

Self Report ◽

Complex Interplay ◽

Psychological Difficulties ◽

Peritraumatic Distress ◽

The Relationship ◽

Second Wave

International research has evidenced the psychological impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on families, and the key role played by parenting stress levels. Although significant associations with parents’ past trauma and resilience have been shown, this study aimed to explore their complex interplay on the relationship between parents’ peritraumatic distress due to COVID-19, parenting stress, and children’s psychopathological difficulties. We recruited 353 parents with children aged two to 16 years via an online survey during the Italian second wave of COVID-19. Parents’ peritraumatic distress due to COVID-19, parenting stress, past trauma and resilience, and children’s psychological difficulties were assessed through self-report and report-form questionnaires. Parents’ past traumas significantly predicted peritraumatic distress due to COVID-19 and children’s psychological difficulties. The relationship between past traumas and children’s psychological difficulties was serial mediated by parents’ peritraumatic distress and parenting stress. Direct and total effects of parent’s resilience on parent’s peritraumatic distress were not significant, but there were significant indirect effects via parenting stress and via parents’ peritraumatic distress and parenting stress, indicating inconsistent mediation. This study evidenced the key risk and protective role played by, respectively, parents’ past traumas exposure and resilience on the relationship between parents’ psychological difficulties due to COVID-19, parenting stress, and children’s psychological difficulties, with important clinical implications.

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The relationship between Internet addiction, psychological distress, and coping strategies in a sample of Saudi undergraduate students

Perspectives In Psychiatric Care ◽

10.1111/ppc.12439 ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

Abd Al‐Hadi Hasan ◽

Ala Abu Jaber

Keyword(s):

Psychological Distress ◽

Coping Strategies ◽

Undergraduate Students ◽

Internet Addiction ◽

And Coping ◽

The Relationship

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Worry as a Predictor of Nutrition Behaviors

Health Education & Behavior ◽

10.1177/1090198112439410 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 40 (1) ◽

pp. 88-96 ◽

Cited By ~ 21

Author(s):

Rebecca A. Ferrer ◽

Hannah E. Bergman ◽

William M. P. Klein

Keyword(s):

Vegetable Consumption ◽

Fruit And Vegetable Consumption ◽

Clinical Implications ◽

Complex Relationship ◽

Food Attitudes ◽

Health Related ◽

Nationally Representative ◽

And Behavior ◽

Attitudes And Behavior ◽

The Relationship

Worry has been shown to predict a variety of health behaviors, such as cancer screening, yet there are few studies linking worry and nutrition. This study used nationally representative data from National Cancer Institute’s Food Attitudes and Behavior Survey ( n = 3,397) to examine the association between health-related worry and a variety of nutrition behaviors. Greater worry was associated with higher fruit and vegetable consumption ( B = 0.19, p < .01), but also more meals eaten when watching television ( B = 0.34, p < .01) and fewer with family ( B = −0.13, p = .02). Importantly, and counterintuitively, greater worry appeared to reverse the conventional relationship between self-efficacy and dietary restriction; those who were self-efficacious and worried were less likely to restrict unhealthy foods. Similarly, worry attenuated the relationship between perceived benefits and special effort to buy produce. A complex relationship between worry and nutrition emerged, with potentially important clinical implications.

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Interpersonal Stress and Poor Health

European Psychologist ◽

10.1027/1016-9040/a000003 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 15 (1) ◽

pp. 3-11 ◽

Cited By ~ 32

Author(s):

Mette M. Aanes ◽

Maurice B. Mittelmark ◽

Jørn Hetland

Keyword(s):

Psychological Distress ◽

Depressive Symptoms ◽

Social Relationships ◽

Indirect Effects ◽

Social Connectedness ◽

Somatic Symptoms ◽

Total Effect ◽

Subjective Feeling ◽

Interpersonal Stress ◽

The Relationship

This paper investigated whether the lack of social connectedness, as measured by the subjective feeling of loneliness, mediates the well-known relationship between interpersonal stress and psychological distress. Furthermore, a relationship between interpersonal stress and somatic symptoms was hypothesized. The study sample included 3,268 women and 3,220 men in Western Norway. The main findings were that interpersonal stress was significantly related to psychological distress as well as to somatic symptoms, both directly and indirectly via paths mediated by loneliness. The size of the indirect effects varied, suggesting that the importance of loneliness as a possible mediator differs for depressive symptoms, anxiety symptoms, and somatic symptoms. In the case of depressive symptoms, more than 75% of the total effect was mediated through loneliness, while in the case of somatic symptoms just over 40% of the total effect was mediated through loneliness. This study supports the hypotheses that social connectedness mediates a relationship between interpersonal stress and psychological distress. The study also provides the first link between interpersonal stress, as measured by the Bergen Social Relationships Scale, and somatic symptoms, extending earlier research on the relationship between interpersonal stress and psychological distress.

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