Study on the Effects of Watching YouTube News on Depression, Anxiety, and Stress

This study aimed to examine the impact of YouTube news on the spread of COVID-19, the Itaewon disaster, the Sillim Station Bundang disaster, and various social issues that recently occurred in our society on people's mental health.Mental health was focused on three areas: depression, anxiety, and stress.The research method was an online survey of 1,000 adult men and women nationwide.Using the SPSS 25.0 program, we examined levels of mental health, such as YouTube news-watching behavior, depression, anxiety, and stress, and the relationship and influence between the two variables, as well as differences in demographic characteristics by gender and age.As a result of the study, there was a significant relationship between the degree of YouTube watching and each variable in mental health levels, such as depression, anxiety, and stress, and the effect of YouTube watching on each mental health variable, such as depression, anxiety, and stress was also found to be significant.In terms of gender and age differences, there were gender and age differences in YouTube watching, immersion, and trust.There were gender differences in depression, and age differences were found in all variables of depression, anxiety, and stress.The results of this study provide specific practical and theoretical implications for response strategies to depression, anxiety, and stress as part of national mental health, considering the frequency of people watching YouTube news and the ripple effect of YouTube channels.