The effect of living in a state of constant alertness on psychological well-being: A study on cryptocurrency investors

This study aims to investigate the prevalence of higher levels of stress and psychological symptoms among individuals who engage in vigilant investing compared to those who do not. The study examines the total scores obtained from the Brief Symptom Inventory and the Perceived Stress Scale, as well as the subscales of these two measures, among cryptocurrency or stock market investors and individuals involved in short-term or long-term investments. A total of 369 participants, including 45 females and 324 males aged between 19 and 66, took part in the study. The results showed that 43.6% (161 individuals) of the participants were involved in cryptocurrency trading, while 56.4% (208 individuals) traded in the stock market. Furthermore, 42.8% (158 individuals) identified themselves as short-term investors, whereas 57.2% (211 individuals) identified as long-term investors. The findings of the study indicated that 27.9% of the participants demonstrated higher levels of symptoms. When comparing the average scores of perceived stress, brief symptom inventory and problematic cryptocurrency scale between the symptomatic group and the less symptomatic group, it was observed that the symptomatic group had significantly higher mean scores on the mentioned measures. When exploring the factors that potentially differentiate these groups, risk attitude, young age, and short-term investment goal were found to be significant risk factors. It was found that individuals engaged in short-term investments exhibited significantly higher levels of psychological symptoms compared to long-term investors.