Abstract:
A global health emergency known as a pandemic was declared by World Health Organization
(WHO) in March 2020 due to the emerging cases of a new infectious virus called COVID-19. Travel
restrictions are applied to prevent the spread of this virus. People’s behaviour is also affected due to
this constraint. Their online activities are increasing since then. Some argue that mental health could
be affected by those external factors. This study explored the correlation between online activitypattern
on mental health in Indonesia and Thailand based on three different stages of COVID-19
using Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) and Multilevel Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). This
study found out that online activities, as well as behavioural changes and sociodemographic
characteristics, have significant correlations to a person’s mental health depending on the type of
characteristics and activities performed. Different correlation between online activity-pattern and
mental health are occurred between the Indonesian and Thailand model. Higher use of social media
and online shopping related activities correlates with a lower mental health condition in the
Indonesian model. Whereas in the Thailand model, online gaming and online food delivery related
activities correlates with a higher mental health condition in the Thailand model.
