Media Use Pattern with Respect to Mental Health in COVID-19: A Dataset from India
Description
The purpose of the study is to fill a void how media as a whole (including social and electronic media) has been impacted the mental health of Indian people in terms of growing anxiety and mental well-being.Thus the research questions addressed in the study are- 1. Is there any relationship between media use pattern with mental Well-being and Anxiety? 2. How the demographic attributes do associated with mental Well-being and Anxiety? Data collection: The researchers here conducted a web based cross sectional survey to assess the psychological impact of COVID-19 on the Indian public. The Data was gathered after three weeks of commencement of lock down in India from 426 respondents through snowball sampling. Media use pattern: There were ten structured validated items regarding the information and news about COVID-19 perspective. Depending upon the hour of exposer to the media, the respondents were categorised in to three group subsequently High (≥9 hrs.), Medium (7-8 hrs.) and Low (≤6 hrs.)Media user. Mental Well-Being Scale: Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-Being Scale (NHS Health Scotland, University of Warwick and University of Edinburgh, 2006) was used to collect data about the status of mental well-being. It was a 5 point Likert type scale having 14 items. The summated score of the respondent is used as mental well-being score. It is also classified as high (Score>56), medium (Score 47-56) and low (score<47) mental well-being. Mental Anxiety Scale Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI) Scale (Beck et al., 1988) was applied to collect the information regarding anxiety level. It was a 4 point Likert scale having 21 items. The summated score of the respondent is also used as mental anxiety score. It is also classified as high (Score>35), medium (Score 22-35 ) and low (score<22) mental anxiety. Data Analysis: The demographic characteristics here include age (young, middle & old); gender (male & female); habitat (rural, urban municipality & metropolitan city); and educational qualification (undergraduate or below, postgraduate & above postgraduate). The data showed that there is significant negative relationship exists between of respondent’s media use and mental wellbeing status, and significant positive relationship exists between media use of respondents’ mental anxiety. Any researcher may use the data to test the association between demographic variables with media user pattern, mental well-being and mental anxiety. The data might be helpful for the psychologist and policy makers to make decision about mental health condition during COVID-19 crisis both in and outside of India.