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01-09-2014 | Disaster Psychiatry (CS North and B Pfefferbaum, Section Editors)

Disaster Media Coverage and Psychological Outcomes: Descriptive Findings in the Extant Research

Authors: Betty Pfefferbaum, Elana Newman, Summer D. Nelson, Pascal Nitiéma, Rose L. Pfefferbaum, Ambreen Rahman

Published in: Current Psychiatry Reports | Issue 9/2014

Abstract

This review of the literature on disaster media coverage describes the events, samples, and forms of media coverage (television, newspapers, radio, internet) studied and examines the association between media consumption and psychological outcomes. A total of 36 studies representing both man-made and natural events met criteria for review in this analysis. Most studies examined disaster television viewing in the context of terrorism and explored a range of outcomes including posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) caseness and posttraumatic stress (PTS), depression, anxiety, stress reactions, and substance use. There is good evidence establishing a relationship between disaster television viewing and various psychological outcomes, especially PTSD caseness and PTS, but studies are too few to draw definitive conclusions about the other forms of media coverage that have been examined. As media technology continues to advance, future research is needed to investigate these additional media forms especially newer forms such as social media.

The general term “media” is used rather than “mass media,” “news,” or “journalism” to reflect the general way in which studies included in this review phrased questions about disaster coverage.

The terminology used in this report reflects the imprecise classifications of media forms described in the reviewed studies.

1.•

Bui E, Rodgers RF, Herbert C, Franko DL, Simon NM, Birmes P, et al. The impact of internet coverage of the March 2011 Japan earthquake on sleep and posttraumatic stress symptoms: an international perspective. Am J Psychiatry. 2012;169(2):221–2. Using a sample from France, Canada, and the United States, this study examined contact with television and internet coverage of the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami during the first 10 days after the disaster. While there was a significant association of consumption of disaster internet coverage with PTSD reactions and disruptive nocturnal behavior, these associations were not significant after adjusting for peritraumatic distress and dissociation.PubMedCrossRef

Rodgers RF, Franko DL, Brunet A, Herbert CF, Bui E. Disordered eating following exposure to television and internet coverage of the March 11 Japan earthquake. Int J Eat Disord. 2012;45(7):844–9.CrossRef

3.••

Ben-Zur H, Gil S, Shamshins Y. The relationship between exposure to terror through the media, coping strategies and resources, and distress and secondary traumatization. Int J Stress Manag. 2012;19(2):132–50. This investigation of university students examined posttraumatic symptoms and distress in relation to contact with media coverage of terrorist attacks in Israel. Various media forms—television, radio, internet, text messaging, newspapers, and rumors—were studied across three conditions—“everyday updating,” “leisure time,” and following an attack. Contact with media coverage was associated with both posttraumatic symptoms and distress.

Collimore KC, McCabe RE, Carleton RN, Asmundson GJG. Media exposure and dimensions of anxiety sensitivity: differential associations with PTSD symptom clusters. J Anxiety Disord. 2008;22(6):1021–8.PubMedCrossRef

Lau JTF, Lau M, Kim JH, Tsui HY. Impacts of media coverage on the community stress level in Hong Kong after the tsunami on 26 December 2004. J Epidemiol Community Health. 2006;60(8):675–82.PubMedCentralPubMedCrossRef

6.•

Nishi D, Koido Y, Nakaya N, Sone T, Noguchi H, Hamazaki K, et al. Peritraumatic distress, watching television, and posttraumatic stress symptoms among rescue workers after the Great East Japan Earthquake. PLoS ONE. 2012;7(4):1–6. This study of the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami assessed Japanese disaster medical assistance responders one and four months after the disaster. Watching more than four hours per day of incident-related television news reports predicted PTSD symptoms.

Bernstein KT, Ahern J, Tracy M, Boscarino JA, Vlahov D, Galea S. Television watching and the risk of incident probable posttraumatic stress disorder. J Nerv Ment Dis. 2007;195(1):41–7.PubMedCrossRef

Ahern J, Galea S, Resnick H, Kilpatrick D, Bucuvalas M, Gold J, et al. Television images and psychological symptoms after the September 11 terrorist attacks. Psychiatry. 2002;65(4):289–300.PubMed

9.••

Goodwin R, Palgi Y, Hamama-Raz Y, Ben-Ezra M. In the eye of the storm or the bullseye of the media: Social media use during Hurricane Sandy as a predictor of post-traumatic stress. J Psychiatr Res. 2013;47(8):1099–100. Using a representative sample from New York one month after Hurricane Sandy, this study compared posttraumatic stress among those who learned about the disaster through traditional media (television, newspapers, and radio) alone with those who learned about it through social media (Facebook, Youtube, and Twitter). Posttraumatic stress was greater in those using social media relative to those using only traditional media.

10.

Cardenas J, Williams K, Wilson JP, Fanouraki G, Singh A. PTSD, major depressive symptoms, and substance abuse following September 11, 2001, in a midwestern university population. Int J Emerg Ment Health. 2003;5(1):15–28.PubMed

11.

Blanchard EB, Kuhn E, Rowell DL, Hickling EJ, Wittrock D, Rogers RL, et al. Studies of the vicarious trauma traumatization of college students by the September 11th attacks: effects of proximity, exposure and connectedness. Behav Res Ther. 2004;42(2):191–205.PubMedCrossRef

12.

Cardeña E, Dennis JM, Winkel M, Skitka LJ. A snapshot of terror: acute posttraumatic responses to the September 11 attack. J Trauma Dissociation. 2005;6(2):69–84.PubMedCrossRef

13.

Dougall AL, Hayward MC, Baum B. Media exposure to bioterrorism: stress and the anthrax attacks. Psychiatry. 2005;68(1):28–42.PubMed

14.

Stout RG, Farooque R. Negative symptoms, anger, and social support: response of an inpatient sample to news coverage of the September 11 terrorist attacks. Psychiatr Q. 2003;74(3):237–50.PubMedCrossRef

15.

Neria Y, Gross R, Litz B, Maguen S, Insel B, Seirmarco G, et al. Prevalence and psychologial correlates of complicated grief among bereaved adults 2.5–3.5 years after September 11 attacks. J Trauma Stress. 2007;20(3):251–62.PubMedCrossRef

16.

Cho J, Boyle MP, Keum H, Shevy MD, McLeod DM, Shah DV, et al. Media, terrorism, and emotionality: emotional differences in media content and public reactions to the September 11th terrorist attacks. J Broadcast Elec Media. 2003;47(3):309–27.CrossRef

17.

Huddy L, Feldman S, Lahav G, Taber C. Fear and terrorism: psychological reactions to 9/11. In: Norris P, Kern M, Jest M, editors. Framing terrorism: the news media, the government. New York City: Routledge; 2003. p. 255–78.

18.

Propper RE, Stickgold R, Keeley R, Christman SD. Is television traumatic? Dreams, stress, and media exposure in the aftermath of September 11, 2001. Psychol Sci. 2007;18(4):334–40.PubMedCrossRef

19.

Ahern J, Galea S, Resnick H, Vlahov D. Television images and probable posttraumatic stress disorder after September 11. J Nerv Ment Dis. 2004;192(3):217–26.PubMedCrossRef

20.

McLeish AC, Del Ben KS. Symptoms of depression and posttraumatic stress disorder in an outpatient population before and after Hurricane Katrina. Depress Anxiety. 2008;25(5):416–21.PubMedCrossRef

21.

Rosen C, Tiet Q, Cavella S, Finney J, Lee T. Chronic PTSD patients’ functioning before and after the September 11 attacks. J Trauma Stress. 2005;18(6):781–4.PubMedCrossRef

22.

Schuster MA, Stein BD, Jaycox LH, Collins RL, Marshall GN, Elliott MN, et al. A national survey of stress reactions after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. N Engl J Med. 2001;345(20):1507–12.PubMedCrossRef

23.••

Holman EA, Garfin DR, Silver RC. Media’s role in broadcasting acute stress following the Boston Marathon bombings. Proc Natl Acad Sci. 2013;111(1):1–6. This study examined acute stress in relation to media coverage of the 2013 Boston Marathon bombings in representative samples from Boston, New York City, and the remainder of the country. Six or more hours of daily contact with media coverage (television, radio, print, online, and social media) in the week after the attacks was associated with higher acute stress than direct exposure (being at or near the bombings) to the disaster.

24.

McDonald IR, Lawrence RG. Filling the 24 × 7 news hole: television news coverage following September 11. Am Behav Sci. 2004;48(3):327–40.CrossRef

25.

Reynolds A, Barnett B. This just in … How national TV news handled the breaking “live” coverage of September 11. J Mass Commun Q. 2003;80(3):689–703.

26.

Van Belle DA. New York Times and network TV news coverage of foreign disasters: the significance of the insignificant variables. J Mass Comm Q. 2000;77(1):50–70.

27.

Walters LM, Hornig S. Faces in the news: network television news coverage of Hurricane Hugo and the Loma Prieta earthquake. J Broadcast Electron Media. 1993;37(2):219–32.CrossRef

Title: Disaster Media Coverage and Psychological Outcomes: Descriptive Findings in the Extant Research
Authors: Betty Pfefferbaum
Elana Newman
Summer D. Nelson
Pascal Nitiéma
Rose L. Pfefferbaum
Ambreen Rahman
Publication date: 01-09-2014
Publisher: Springer US
Published in: Current Psychiatry Reports / Issue 9/2014
Print ISSN: 1523-3812
Electronic ISSN: 1535-1645
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11920-014-0464-x

At a glance: The STEP trials

Springer Medicine

Disaster Media Coverage and Psychological Outcomes: Descriptive Findings in the Extant Research

Abstract

At a glance: The STEP trials

Springer Medicine

Abstract

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