You are not alone: Smartphone use, friendship satisfaction, and anxiety during the COVID-19 crisis

Autor(en)

Anja Stevic, Kevin Koban, Alice Binder, Jörg Matthes

Abstrakt

Due to 'stay-at-home' measures, individuals increasingly relied on smartphones for social connection and for obtaining information about the COVID-19 pandemic. In a two-wave panel survey (N-Time2 = 416), we investigated associations between different types of smartphone use (i.e., communicative and non-communicative), friendship satisfaction, and anxiety during the first lockdown in Austria. Our findings revealed that communicative smartphone use increased friendship satisfaction over time, validating how smartphones can be a positive influence in difficult times. Friendship satisfaction decreased anxiety after one month, signaling the importance of strong friendship networks during the crisis. Contrary to our expectations, non-communicative smartphone use had no effects on friendship satisfaction or anxiety over time. Reciprocal effects showed that anxiety increased both types of smartphone use over time. These findings are discussed in the context of mobile media effects related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Organisation(en)

Institut für Publizistik- und Kommunikationswissenschaft

Journal

Mobile Media & Communication

Band

10

Seiten

294-315

Anzahl der Seiten

22

ISSN

2050-1579

DOI

https://doi.org/10.1177/20501579211051820

Publikationsdatum

2021

Peer-reviewed

Ja

ÖFOS 2012

508007 Kommunikationswissenschaft

Schlagwörter

ASJC Scopus Sachgebiete

Communication, Computer Networks and Communications, Media Technology

Link zum Portal

https://ucrisportal.univie.ac.at/de/publications/73cfcc0d-0570-46a6-81d3-aa2f9d096715