TY - JOUR
T1 - COVID-19: Technology, Social Connections, Loneliness, and Leisure Activities: An International Study Protocol
AU - Marston, Hannah R.
AU - Ivan, Loredana
AU - Fernández-Adrèvol, Mireia
AU - Rosales Climent, Andrea
AU - Gómez-León, Madelin
AU - Blanche-Tiago, Daniel
AU - Earle, Sarah
AU - Ko, Pei-Chun
AU - Colas, Sophie
AU - Bilir, Burcu
AU - Ötztürk Calikoglu, Halime
AU - Arslan, Hasan
AU - Kanozia, Rubal
AU - Kriebernegg, Ulla
AU - Großschädl, Franziska
AU - Reer, Felix
AU - Quandt, Thorsten
AU - Buttigieg, Sandra C.
AU - Silva, Paula Alexandra
AU - Gallistl, Vera
AU - Rohner, Rebekka
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© Copyright © 2020 Marston, Ivan, Fernández-Ardèvol, Rosales Climent, Gómez-León, Blanche-T, Earle, Ko, Colas, Bilir, Öztürk Çalikoglu, Arslan, Kanozia, Kriebernegg, Großschädl, Reer, Quandt, Buttigieg, Silva, Gallistl and Rohner.
PY - 2020/11/19
Y1 - 2020/11/19
N2 - Drawn from the stress process model, the pandemic has imposed substantial stress to individual economic and mental well-being and has brought unprecedented disruptions to social life. In light of social distancing measures, and in particular physical distancing because of lockdown policies, the use of digital technologies has been regarded as the alternative to maintain economic and social activities. This paper aims to describe the design and implementation of an online survey created as an urgent, international response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The online survey described here responds to the need of understanding the effects of the pandemic on social interactions/relations and to provide findings on the extent to which digital technology is being utilized by citizens across different communities and countries around the world. It also aims to analyze the association of use of digital technologies with psychological well-being and levels of loneliness. The data will be based on the ongoing survey (comprised of several existing and validated instruments on digital use, psychological well-being and loneliness), open for 3 months after roll out (ends September) across 11 countries (Austria, France, Germany, India, Malta, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Turkey, and UK). Participants include residents aged 18 years and older in the countries and snowball sampling is employed via social media platforms. We anticipate that the findings of the survey will provide useful and much needed information on the prevalence of use and intensities of digital technologies among different age groups, gender, socioeconomic groups in a comparative perspective. Moreover, we expect that the future analysis of the data collected will show that different types of digital technologies and intensities of use are associated with psychological well-being and loneliness. To conclude, these findings from the study are expected to bring in our understanding the role of digital technologies in affecting individual social and emotional connections during a crisis.
AB - Drawn from the stress process model, the pandemic has imposed substantial stress to individual economic and mental well-being and has brought unprecedented disruptions to social life. In light of social distancing measures, and in particular physical distancing because of lockdown policies, the use of digital technologies has been regarded as the alternative to maintain economic and social activities. This paper aims to describe the design and implementation of an online survey created as an urgent, international response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The online survey described here responds to the need of understanding the effects of the pandemic on social interactions/relations and to provide findings on the extent to which digital technology is being utilized by citizens across different communities and countries around the world. It also aims to analyze the association of use of digital technologies with psychological well-being and levels of loneliness. The data will be based on the ongoing survey (comprised of several existing and validated instruments on digital use, psychological well-being and loneliness), open for 3 months after roll out (ends September) across 11 countries (Austria, France, Germany, India, Malta, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Turkey, and UK). Participants include residents aged 18 years and older in the countries and snowball sampling is employed via social media platforms. We anticipate that the findings of the survey will provide useful and much needed information on the prevalence of use and intensities of digital technologies among different age groups, gender, socioeconomic groups in a comparative perspective. Moreover, we expect that the future analysis of the data collected will show that different types of digital technologies and intensities of use are associated with psychological well-being and loneliness. To conclude, these findings from the study are expected to bring in our understanding the role of digital technologies in affecting individual social and emotional connections during a crisis.
KW - gerontechnology
KW - gerontology
KW - international rapid response
KW - pandemic (COVID-19)
KW - quantitative data
KW - social media
KW - social science research
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85097191663&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.3389/fsoc.2020.574811
DO - 10.3389/fsoc.2020.574811
M3 - Case report
C2 - 33869500
SN - 2297-7775
VL - 5
JO - Frontiers in Sociology
JF - Frontiers in Sociology
ER -