Social Contact and Mental Health During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Network Approach Using Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA)

Background: It is well established that social contact is related to mental health. Previous research has shown that the quantity and quality of social interactions are associated with the development, course and severity of mental disorders, such as anxiety and depression. Less is known about the psychological effects of social contact during a pandemic. Method: The current study investigates the dynamic associations among offline social interactions, depression, anxiety, and stress symptoms in undergraduates from a Dutch university (N=79; 75.95% female; MAge =20.37) during the COVID-19 pandemic. Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA) was used for the data collection. A short online questionnaire was prompted via smartphone four times a day for two consecutive weeks. Multilevel vector autoregressive models were used for the network analysis and centrality indices were calculated. Results: We found significant dynamic associations among the duration of offline social contact and...Show moreBackground: It is well established that social contact is related to mental health. Previous research has shown that the quantity and quality of social interactions are associated with the development, course and severity of mental disorders, such as anxiety and depression. Less is known about the psychological effects of social contact during a pandemic. Method: The current study investigates the dynamic associations among offline social interactions, depression, anxiety, and stress symptoms in undergraduates from a Dutch university (N=79; 75.95% female; MAge =20.37) during the COVID-19 pandemic. Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA) was used for the data collection. A short online questionnaire was prompted via smartphone four times a day for two consecutive weeks. Multilevel vector autoregressive models were used for the network analysis and centrality indices were calculated. Results: We found significant dynamic associations among the duration of offline social contact and depression symptoms only. The absence of pleasure was associated with less offline social interactions, and vice versa. Having nothing to look forward to was predictive of less offline social contact three hours later. Social contact scored the lowest on centrality indices in our sample. Conclusion: Altogether, we found the duration of offline social contact to be partially related to mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic. Results, strengths and limitations are discussed. Examining the dynamic associations among mental health and social contact can provide novel insights into the development and maintenance of mental health issues.Show less

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Social Contact and Mental Health During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Network Approach Using Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA)