Effects of media exposure on PTSD symptoms in college students during the COVID-19 outbreak.

Objective: We aimed to investigate the influence of media on college students' mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: After the COVID-19 outbreak, we used cross-sectional surveys through online questionnaires to investigate the mental health of college students in lockdown at home. We identified the influencing factors of PTSD symptoms using the Chi-Square test and ordinal logistic regression analysis. Results: In 10,989 valid questionnaires, 9,906 college students with no PTSD symptoms, 947 college students with subclinical PTSD symptoms (1-3 items), and 136 college students with four or more PTSD symptoms were screened out. The results showed that media content impacted the mental health of college students in lockdown at home. Positive media content was negatively correlated with PTSD symptoms among college students. PTSD symptoms were not associated with sources of information. Moreover, College students with PTSD symptoms would reduce their willingness to learn and could not complete online learning efficiently. Conclusion: PTSD symptoms are related to media exposure and excessive information involvement of COVID-19 in college students, which influences the willingness to attend online classes.

Empirical Study on Social Media Exposure and Fear as Drivers of Anxiety and Depression during the COVID-19 Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in an abundance of news and information dominating media outlets, leading to a widespread atmosphere of fear and uncertainty, potentially having adverse effects on mental health. This study aims to explore whether social media exposure contributes to anxiety and depression. An online cross-sectional survey was conducted using a standardized questionnaire to collect data on social media exposure, fear of COVID-19, depression, and anxiety from 327 employed individuals in the United States. Structural equation modeling was employed to analyze the relationships between social media exposure, fear of COVID-19, anxiety, and depression. The results suggest that fear of COVID-19 leads to anxiety and depression, and that social media exposure leads to fear, anxiety, and depression. These findings highlight the potential adverse effects of social media exposure and fear on mental health and suggest that reducing social media exposure could help minimize anxiety levels. It also emphasizes the significance of understanding the impact of fear of COVID-19 on anxiety and depression and provides guidance for managing and coping with fear in this pandemic. This study's relevance lies in gaining critical insights into the pros and cons of using social media for health-related information during a pandemic. The novelty of this study lies in its unique perspective on the impact of adverse information that has distinct psychological and social implications.

Judging the quality of (fake) news on the internet

The only reliable remedy against anxiety is information, and reliable information and news are of crucial value in times of crises, such as COVID-19. Contemporary social media offers almost everyone a platform to publish one's own thoughts, opinions, political statements and others, some of which may gain significant interest of others and thereby become so called "influencers". This role has in the past been held by news agencies primarily, but this role is increasingly adopted also by private people and among them, also some who do not necessarily adhere the high standards of good journalism or scientific ethics. These give rise to fake news, spreading as unconfirmed rumors and possibly causing dramatic impacts to a society. With information available almost everywhere in the internet today, the distinction between good and bad sources has become a challenge, and highly difficult task. Even more intricate is the question of verifying information against multiple independent sources. If many people say something, does this make it true or any more plausible? Do we need to trust information in lack of better information? Is it possible to judge information and make our own opinion about its validity, quality, relevance or usefulness for our own business? This article shall provide pointers towards answers to the above questions. We discuss some technical means of judging the quality of information and what anyone, even without much technical background can do to avoid falling victim to fake information and fake news. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)

Why is right-wing media consumption associated with lower compliance with COVID-19 measures?

Exposure to right-wing media has been shown to be related to lower perceived threat from COVID-19, lower compliance with prophylactic measures against it, and higher incidence of infection and death. What features of right-wing media messages may account for these effects? In a preregistered cross-sectional study (N = 554), we tested a model that differentiates perceived consequences of two CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) recommendations-washing hands and staying home-for basic human values. People who consumed more right-wing media perceived these behaviors as less beneficial for their personal security, for the well-being of close ones, and the well-being of society at large. Perceived consequences of following the CDC recommendations mediated the relationship between media consumption and compliance with recommendations. Implications for public health messaging are discussed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)

Media use for children with disabilities in the United States during COVID-19

The article briefs about the effectiveness of media use for children with disabilities in the U.S. during COVID-19. Since author's son was born with multiple disabilities 14 years ago, author has regularly debated about what media use and screen time rules are best for him and feel like author never get it right. When COVID arrived, students were suddenly home learning on screens, while still using screens for entertainment. Many popular articles were written by bloggers and influencers about managing screen time during the pandemic, but most did not address issues specific to youth with disabilities. Articles also started appearing in academic journals, but again, often lacked mention of youth with disabilities. With no guidance for their unique situation, author was on her own to navigate how to approach screen time with her son. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)

Media portrayal of mental health at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic games

Introduction: The media coverage of high-profile sporting events can bring increased pressure to athletes' psychological wellbeing. There may be speculation regarding athletes' mental state before, during and after competition potentially impacting on both the athlete's wellbeing and public perception of the individual if a negative tone is attached to an article. As mental health understanding and literacy develop, media reporting of elite athlete mental health may contribute to shaping of opinions and help seeking behaviour. Thus, we have aimed to understand and analyse the tone and content of media reporting on a high-profile sporting event using qualitative methods to explore key aspects of the articles sampled. Methods: We selected two UK broadsheet newspapers available online (The Guardian and The Telegraph) and identified all text articles including the terms "Mental Health" and "Olympics" or "Paralympics" published between 23rd July 2019 and 30th November 2021. We selected articles relevant to the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games and including mental health as a subject. Relevant articles were read in full, and we conducted a thematic analysis to explore how mental health was portrayed. Results: 581 results were generated from our initial search. Following screening and removal of irrelevant articles, we had 95 articles for analysis. We identified four themes relating to portrayal of mental health: Pressure, impact of COVID, Lack of specific diagnostic terms, and athletes as humans. Conclusion: Media portrayal of mental health at the Tokyo Games was generally positive and portrayed athletes as relatable, inspiring, and "human" rather than superhuman. Reporting particularly focused on athlete-specific factors in mental health conditions and the pressures of high-level competition. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)

A partisan pandemic: How COVID-19 was primed for polarization

Americans who affiliate with both major political parties rapidly formed diverging attitudes about the COVID-19 pandemic. Matters of scientific concern have elicited partisan reactions in the past, but partisan divergence of opinion on those issues occurred over decades rather than months. We review evidence on factors that led to polarization of previous scientific issues in an effort to explain why reactions diverged so quickly this time around. We then use publicly available survey data to reveal that partisan reactions to the pandemic were closely associated with trust in public health institutions, that the association between partisanship and trust increased over time, and that the conflation of trust and partisanship appears to largely explain polarized reactions to COVID-19. We also investigate the hypothesis that conservative media use might explain polarization but find that the hypothesis is not supported by our data. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)

Exploring the audiovisual effects on sport viewer satisfaction through the lens of the psychological continuum model

As the source of one of the largest revenue streams for professional sport franchises, the viewership of sport broadcasts has plummeted in recent years (Bode, 2018). This declining trend has been further exacerbated by the global COVID-19 pandemic (Crupi, 2021). According to Deloitte's Fan Engagement survey, the average fan satisfaction across sports broadcast programs was only 39 percent (Deloitte, 2019).Research has been devoted to investigating the determinants of sport viewer satisfaction, including various audio and visual conditions of sport broadcasts. However, these works assume that media design effects are equally effective among all viewers and fail to account for potential heterogeneities in people's psychological connection to the mediated sport. To address this gap, the Psychological Continuum Model (PCM;Funk & James, 2001;2006) was introduced as the theoretical foundation for understanding the formation of viewer satisfaction with a focal sport (e.g., college football).The current dissertation examines whether and how the strength of psychological connection to college football overrides the effects of varying audiovisual presentations on viewer satisfaction with a televised college football game. A 2 (presence of commentary: With commentary vs. Without commentary) x 2 (presence of audience: High vs. Low) between-subjects online experiment was administered via Prolific (n = 338). The relationship between psychological connection and viewer satisfaction and the moderation effects of the two selected audiovisual conditions were tested using the ANCOVA. Results showed a significant positive association between psychological connection to college football and viewer satisfaction. However, the manipulated audiovisual conditions did not moderate the aforementioned relationship between psychological connection and viewer satisfaction. The presence of audience had a significant positive effect on viewer satisfaction. In contrast, the presence of commentary exerted no significant effect on viewer satisfaction regardless of people's PCM staging.The findings provide empirical evidence to support the seminal PCM framework that the strength of an individual's psychological connection to the focal sport object was a more deterministic factor that drives the sport media consumption experience than the audiovisual media presentation. For those interested in watching but have not yet formed a strong attitude towards the broadcasted sport object, the viewing experience can be optimized by maximizing the visual presence of a live audience. The null effect of commentary presence and sonic ambiance on viewer satisfaction reinforces the proposition that what is seen might be more influential than what is heard in sport media consumption (Cummins et al., 2019). (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)

Longitudinal study of an emerging COVID-19 stigma: Media exposure, danger appraisal, and stress

Media coverage of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has played a critical role throughout the pandemic: sharing news about the novel virus, policies and practices to mitigate it, and the race to create and distribute vaccines. The media coverage, however, has been critiqued as stigmatizing. Although this critique is not new, there is limited understanding of how and why new stigmas emerge from exposure to media coverage. Drawing upon the model of stigma communication (Smith et al., 2019) and the attribution model of stigma (Corrigan et al., 2003), we investigated a novel model of stigma emergence that delineates two kinds of longitudinal processes: (a) a message-effects process, in which exposure to mediated messages about COVID-19 leads to public stigma through danger appraisal and (b) a coping process in which stress and rumination shape later perceptions of public stigma. To test the model, we tracked an emerging COVID-19 stigma with a two-wave survey of a prospective, longitudinal cohort living in one county in a mid-Atlantic state (N = 883). The results supported this model. The longitudinal processes of stigma emergence and implications for COVID-19 stigma are discussed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)

Media Exposure to COVID-19 Predicted Acute Stress: A Moderated Mediation Model of Intolerance of Uncertainty and Perceived Social Support.

Background: Previous studies have found that disaster-related media exposure could predict acute stress responses. However, few studies have investigated the relationship between media exposure to COVID-19 and acute stress, and less is known about the mechanisms that translate media exposure to COVID-19 into acute stress. The current study explored the impact of media exposure to COVID-19 on acute stress, and examined the mediating role of intolerance of uncertainty (IU) and the moderating role of perceived social support (PSS). Methods: A total of 1,483 Chinese participants (M age = 27.93 years, SD = 8.45) completed anonymous online questionnaires regarding media exposure to COVID-19, IU, PSS, and acute stress during the COVID-19 outbreak in China. Results: Media exposure to COVID-19 was positively related to acute stress, and IU partially mediated this relationship. The direct effect of media exposure to COVID-19 on acute stress, and the relationship between IU and acute stress, were both moderated by PSS. The impacts of both media exposure to COVID-19 and IU on acute stress were stronger for individuals with low PSS. Limitations: This study collected data in a shorter timeframe, and no assessments occurred during the follow-up, which may prevent us from detecting the changes of the relationships between variables over time. Meanwhile, the self-report method limited the validity of the data due to subjective reporting bias. Conclusions: These findings contribute to a better understanding of how and when pandemic-related media exposure affects acute stress, and provide new perspectives for the prevention to reduce psychological problems following traumatic events.

Generational differences in the relationship between media exposure and health behaviors during COVID-19 pandemic.

Based on a questionnaire survey (N = 857), this study analyzed generational differences in the public health behaviors of COVID-19 and provided an explanation for generational differences from the perspective of media exposure. There are significant differences in media exposure and health behaviors between the Mesozoic generation (35-55) and the young generation (18-34) during the lull. The Mesozoic generation paid greater attention to information on pandemics. Consequently, their health behaviors surpass that of the young generation. On the basis of social cognitive theory and protection motivation theory, this study develops a mediating model of media exposure on health behaviors, demonstrating that media exposure can influence health behaviors through the mediating effects of perceived severity, self-efficacy, and response efficacy, but not via perceived susceptibility. Moreover, a moderated mediation study found that generation moderates the indirect effect of media exposure on health behaviors via perceived susceptibility. Media exposure influences Mesozoic healthy behaviors positively by decreasing their perceived susceptibility. The implication of this study is that the development of health communication theory must account for generational differences and disease-specific characteristics.

Application of protection motivation theory and cultural tightness-looseness for predicting individuals' compliance with the government's recommended preventive measures during regular prevention and control of the COVID-19 pandemic in China.

Introduction: In the period of regular prevention and control of the COVID-19 pandemic, the public must continue to comply with the government's recommended preventive measures to further curb the pandemic. Based on the theories of protection motivation and cultural tightness-looseness, this study investigates individuals' compliance with the government's recommended preventive measures during this period in China. It also establishes a moderated mediation model to explore the underlying mechanisms. Methods: We used structural equation modeling and latent model structural equations to analyze data from an online survey of 443 participants. Results: The analysis showed that media exposure significantly predicted perceived severity, maladaptive rewards, self-efficacy, response efficacy, and response cost. Perceived severity, self-efficacy, and response efficacy were positively associated with protection motivation, which, in turn, was positively associated with individuals' compliance. Additionally, protection motivation positively affected individuals' compliance via implementation intention, and perceived cultural tightness-looseness significantly moderated the association between protection motivation and implementation intention. Discussion: This study helps to better understand individuals' compliance from a theoretical perspective and provide practical advice on promoting individuals' compliance with the government's precautionary measures.

Mechanisms of Physical Exercise Effects on Anxiety in Older Adults during the COVID-19 Lockdown: An Analysis of the Mediating Role of Psychological Resilience and the Moderating Role of Media Exposure.

The purpose of this study was to explore the effects of physical exercise on anxiety in older adults during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown, as well as the mediating role of psychological resilience and the moderating role of media exposure. An online questionnaire was used to survey older adults in Chengdu, Southwest China. A total of 451 older adults aged 60 years and older participated in the study (209 males and 242 females). The results suggest that physical exercise negatively influenced anxiety symptoms in older adults; psychological resilience mediated the effect of physical exercise on anxiety in older adults and negatively predicted it; furthermore, media exposure moderated the effects of physical exercise and psychological resilience on anxiety, and low levels of media exposure strengthened these effects. This study suggests that participation in physical exercise and reduced media exposure during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown may have reduced anxiety in older adults.

An extended health belief model for COVID-19: understanding the media-based processes leading to social distancing and panic buying.

Building on the health belief model (HBM), this research tests, over six months, how the exposure to COVID-related information in the media affects fear, which in turn conditions beliefs about the severity of the virus, susceptibility of getting the virus, and benefits of safety measures. These health beliefs ultimately lead to social distancing and panic buying. As a first contribution, we find that fear is not directly triggered by the objective severity of a crisis, but rather formed over time by the way individuals are exposed to media. Second, we show that fear affects behaviors through the components of the HBM which relate to the risks/benefits of a situation. Last, we find that critical thinking about media content amplifies the "adaptive" responses of our model (e.g., health beliefs, social distancing) and reduces its "maladaptive" responses (e.g., panic buying). Interestingly, we note that the beneficial effect of critical thinking about media content disappears as the level of fear increases over time. The implications of these findings for policymakers, media companies, and theory are further discussed. Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11747-022-00865-8.

Understanding Consumer Panic Buying Behaviors during the Strict Lockdown on Omicron Variant: A Risk Perception View

Panic buying has been globally observed, leading to substantial stock-outs and supply chain disruptions, thus inducing additional panic buying. Regarding panic buying behavior as an intuitive over-protective measure during the strict lockdown and seal-off management in China, this study presented a synthetic conceptual model by integrating the protective action decision model (PADM). We examined inductively the relationships among media exposure, cognitive-affective risk perception, stakeholder perception, protective perception, and panic buying behavior using a survey of 517 participants who experienced panic buying during the Omicron epidemic in China. Results suggest that traditional media exposure could attenuate people's affective risk perception, whereas social media exposure increases the degree of cognitive and affective aspects of risk perception. Furthermore, we detect that cognitive and affective risk perceptions positively affect people's panic-buying behaviors. The effects of stakeholder and protective perceptions on panic buying were also examined.

Parasocial relationship in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic: A moderated mediation model of digital media exposure on political trust among Chinese young people.

How to retain people's trust in the government becomes a critical topic during the COVID-19 pandemic. Research on media use and government public relations has proliferated in the past several decades. However, there is a paucity of research investigating political trust in the context of a public health crisis as a communicative process from a relational perspective. This study examined collectivism and parasocial relationships as two potential mechanisms linking digital media exposure to political trust in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. A sample of 465 Chinese young adults aged between 18 and 35 responded to anonymous questionnaires regarding digital media exposure to Nanshan Zhong, collectivism, parasocial relationships, COVID-19 political trust, and general political trust. The results suggested that the formation of parasocial relationships with Nanshan Zhong mediated the impact of digital media exposure on COVID-19 political trust and general political trust, respectively. Meanwhile, the indirect associations were moderated by collectivism. Through repeated exposure to news of Nanshan Zhong on multiple digital media, individuals with higher levels of collectivism were more likely to develop parasocial relationships with him, which subsequently resulted in increased political trust.

Association between self-efficacy, social support, knowledge of COVID-19, COVID-19 perception and stress, anxiety, depression of healthcare providers: the role of news media exposure as moderator

Introduction: All pandemic outbreaks because of their rapid spread and high mortality rate cause to everyone considerable stress and anxiety. Objective(s): The aim of the present study is to investigate how news media exposure moderates the relationship between stress, anxiety, depression and self-efficacy, social support, knowledge of the coronavirus and coronavirus perception. Method(s): 223 healthcare providers, men 46 (20.6%) and women 177 (79.4%), working in hospitals in Greece participated in the study. independent t-test, one-way ANOVAs, Pearson's correlation, multiple-linear regression and moderator's analysis were analyzed with SPSS23. Result(s): Organization support, friends support, covid-19 knowledge and covid-19 perception are most significant predictors to stress, F (4,218) = 11.47, p < .001 and Adjusted R2- .159. Friends support, covid-19 knowledge and self-efficacy, working with covid19 patients and gender are most significant predictors to anxiety, F (5,217) = 11.16, p < .001 Adjusted R2- .186. Friends support, covid-19 knowledge and self-efficacy and organization support are most significant predictors to depression, F (4,218) = 16.37, p < .001 Adjusted R2-squared: .217. News media exposure did moderate the predictive power of almost all predictors for stress, anxiety and depression, at p<.05. Conclusion(s): Therefore, the study verifies previous findings arguing that stress, anxiety and depression are strongly associated with numerous factors. These associations seem to be moderated by news media exposure. It is recommended to further explore the impact news media exposure has during crucial periods, such as covid-19 outbreak.

COVID-19 messages in sponsored social media posts: The positive impact of influencer-brand fit and prior parasocial interaction

This study explores the dissemination potential of a COVID-19 message embedded in a sponsored social media post. The moderating role of prior parasocial interaction and influencer-brand fit were considered. 365 respondents participated in the study. A 3 (control, congruent, incongruent brand) x 2 (control, COVID-19 message) between-subject online experiment was designed and executed. Data were analyzed using a mediated moderation model. Results indicated that the three-way interaction of the COVID-19 message, brand presence and prior parasocial interaction affected the perceived influencer credibility, attitudes towards the social media post, and the behavioral engagement with the post. When the COVID-19 message was included in the post, increased prior parasocial interaction intensified the positive effect of influencer-brand fit on influencer credibility, which in turn resulted in a more positive attitude towards the post, and a higher behavioral engagement. Theoretical and practical implications were discussed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)

"We Are Running Out of Time": Temporal Orientation and Information Seeking as Explanatory Factors of Climate Anxiety among Young People

(1) Background: Climate change is a major threat to human health and new research is highlighting its effects on physical health. However, there is still little research on the psychological effects, particularly on young people, who seem to be disproportionately affected. (2) Objectives: In this context, we conducted a study focusing on the young adult population to identify psychosocial and behavioral factors that may modulate the intensity of this anxiety. (3) Method: A cross-sectional study by questionnaire was carried out on a sample of 369 young French adults. Data were analyzed via structural equation modelling. (4) Results: The main results suggest that: (1) CFC and information seeking predict climate anxiety, which in turn predicts the emotional consequences of exposure to information about the negative consequences of climate change;(2) information seeking moderates the effects of CFC on climate anxiety. (5) Conclusions: This study highlights both the role of temporal orientation and information seeking on the climate anxiety experienced by young adults. These results provide an interesting lever for health professionals to work with this population who may be more vulnerable to climate anxiety than others. [ FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Psych is the property of MDPI and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full . (Copyright applies to all s.)

Psychological impact of experiences with COVID-19 pandemic considering disruption of global meaning and religious experiences

Previous literature has shown that single and multiple stressful and traumatic life events can lead to experiences of psychopathological symptoms. Upon experiencing these events, individuals have been found to engage in meaning making processes due to the violation of the experience with their global meaning (Bonanno et al., 2010;Park, 2010). Furthermore, global meaning violations (GMV) and spiritual struggles (SS) have been found to accompany posttraumatic stress and related symptoms (Appel et al., 2020). Presently, there is a lack of knowledge about the processes that lead to and could possibly exacerbate the psychological impact of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The current study investigated the relationships between experiences with the COVID-19 pandemic, meaning violations and spiritual struggles related to the pandemic, overall well-being, and psychopathologies. Participants (N = 202) were recruited from Amazon's MTurk to obtain a community sample of the general US population. Correlation analysis supported hypotheses stating a positive relationship between both global meaning violations and spiritual struggles and psychopathology symptoms. The structural equation model showed that GMV were directly related to psychopathology symptoms and SS. Meanwhile, COVID-19 exposure had an indirect effect on SS and psychopathology symptoms through GMV. Results have implications on the current understanding of individuals' psychological well-being and cognitive process during a global pandemic. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)