Gender, Social media Use, and Fear of COVID-19 among Ghanaian University Students

Abstract

Background COVID-19 and its associated social restrictive measures and lockdowns exacerbated the use of social media and other technological facilities for communication. This study, therefore, examined Ghanaian students’ social media use and its relationship with fear of COVID-19, paying close attention to the moderating role of gender. Methods Data were collected between June and July 2020 among a sample of 209 students via online measures on social media use and fear of COVID-19. Results Findings revealed that social media use had a small and positive association with fear of COVID-19 (r = 0.18, p = 0.009). The mean scores of these variables did not differ by gender. However, moderation analysis revealed that increased social media use raised the fears of COVID-19 of female students (B=-0.24, p = 0.034). Conclusion Although social media was used for connecting with people and accessing pandemic-related information, our findings clearly suggest that overuse or over-engagement may just be problematic, especially for females. Aside from developing interventions to reduce students’ fears of COVID-19, appropriate usage of social media should be advocated.