Subscribe
The latest psychology and neuroscience discoveries.
My Account
  • Mental Health
  • Social Psychology
  • Cognitive Science
  • Psychopharmacology
No Result
View All Result
PsyPost
PsyPost
No Result
View All Result
Home Exclusive Mental Health Anxiety

Google searches on ‘anxiety’ accurately indicate when and where people are feeling anxious, study finds

by Eric W. Dolan
October 27, 2019 - Updated on March 1, 2020
in Anxiety, Mental Health
(Photo credit: tippapatt)

(Photo credit: tippapatt)


Enhance your understanding of the human mind and mental health trends. Click here to follow PsyPost on LinkedIn.
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Google searches for anxiety appear to accurately reflect population-level anxiety, according to new research published in the journal Emotion.

“I am interested in the potential of big data analysis in illuminating the cultural influence on human minds. I think this type of analysis is especially useful to study questions that are difficult to study otherwise,” said study author Takeshi Hamamura, a senior lecturer at Curtin University in Australia.

“One example is the notion of ‘May Disease’ in Japan. The notion is that more Japanese feel anxious in spring due to school and career transitions. Many Japanese are familiar with this notion and it is widely reported by the media each year.”

“However, there is very little research evidence behind this notion. This is probably because a careful test would require a large sample periodically self-reporting anxiety for an extended period of time. Such an analysis is rarely conducted. With Google Trends, data capable of answering this question is publicly available,” Hamamura said.

“We wanted to see whether Google searches on ‘anxiety’ indicate people’s felt anxiety. And we wanted to see whether we could use Google search rate to improve our understanding of anxiety.”

Japan’s government periodically conducts a nationally-representative health survey, which includes a widely used measure of psychological distress and anxiety. For their study, the researchers compared this data to search records from Google Trends.

Hamamura and his colleagues found that the search rate for the Japanese words fuan and shinpai — which roughly correspond to the English word anxiety — was higher in regions where psychological distress was more prevalent. They also found that the search rates increased following a natural disaster.

“We found that anxiety is Googled when and where people are feeling anxious. This evidence supports the use of Google search on anxiety as an indicator of anxiety at the population level,” Hamamura told PsyPost.

After examining data from a 5-year period, the researchers also found evidence for a seasonal trend in searches for anxiety. “We found that anxiety increases in spring in Japan, supporting the ‘May Disease’ notion,” Hamamura said.

“Anxiety is Googled more since 2004 in Japan, but there is no indication of increasing anxiety among Japanese people,” he added.

“We speculate that this divergence between the search rate and self-reported anxiety may reflect a long-term change in how people cope with anxiety (e.g., people are increasingly reliant on the internet in dealing with anxiety and less on traditional sources of support). But this issue needs to be examined further.”

The study, “Anxious? Just Google It: Social Ecological Factors of Internet Search Records on Anxiety“, was authored by Takeshi Hamamura and Christian S. Chan.

ShareTweetSendScanShareSharePinSend

Thanks for reading! Click here to support PsyPost by becoming a paid subscriber. In an age where information is abundant but quality knowledge is scarce, PsyPost ensures that you stay updated on the most recent and relevant discoveries made in psychology and neuroscience.

STAY CONNECTED

TRENDING

New neuroscience research upends traditional theories of early language learning in babies

A breakthrough in Alzheimer’s treatment? Promising results from new brain stimulation study

Preschoolers categorize people according to body shape rather than race

Groundbreaking study pinpoints Trump’s role in surge of negativity in U.S. political discourse

Owners of sex dolls are less prone to sexual aggression, but also have lower sexual self-esteem

Men are drawn to borderline personality traits in physically attractive women, study finds

RECENT

New study reveals promising effects of psilocybin in treating severe depression in bipolar II disorder patients

A video game might be effective in reducing fear of needles in children

Scientists revisit Solomon Asch’s classic conformity experiments — and are stunned by the results

A breakthrough in Alzheimer’s treatment? Promising results from new brain stimulation study

New study sheds light on the psychological complexities of adult webcam viewers

Preschoolers categorize people according to body shape rather than race

Groundbreaking study pinpoints Trump’s role in surge of negativity in U.S. political discourse

Instability in sleep patterns linked to cognitive decline in older adults

  • Cognitive Science
  • COVID-19
  • Mental Health
  • Social Psychology
  • Drug Research
  • Conspiracy Theories
  • Meditation
  • Psychology of Religion
  • Aviation Psychology and Human Factors
  • Relationships and Sexual Health
  • Evolutionary Psychology
  • Neuroimaging
  • Psychedelic Drugs
  • Dark Triad
  • Political Psychology
  • Contact us
  • Disclaimer
  • Privacy policy
  • Terms and Conditions
Subscribe
  • My Account
  • Cognitive Science Research
  • Mental Health Research
  • Social Psychology Research
  • Drug Research
  • Relationship Research
  • About PsyPost
  • Contact
  • Privacy Policy

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In

Add New Playlist

Manage your privacy
To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behavior or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
Functional Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes. The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
Statistics

Marketing

Features
Always active

Always active
Manage options Manage services Manage {vendor_count} vendors Read more about these purposes
Manage options
{title} {title} {title}
Manage your privacy

To provide the best experiences, we and our partners use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us and our partners to process personal data such as browsing behavior or unique IDs on this site and show (non-) personalized ads. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.

Click below to consent to the above or make granular choices. Your choices will be applied to this site only. You can change your settings at any time, including withdrawing your consent, by using the toggles on the Cookie Policy, or by clicking on the manage consent button at the bottom of the screen.

Functional Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes. The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
Statistics

Marketing

Features
Always active

Always active
Manage options Manage services Manage {vendor_count} vendors Read more about these purposes
Manage options
{title} {title} {title}