This paper examines the relationship between attention to the mass media and concern about becoming infected with H1N1 in two nationwide random samples interviewed during the flu epidemic of 2009. The first sample (N = 1004) was taken at the end of the first wave of the outbreak in the US and the second sample (N = 1006) was taken as the second wave was accelerating. The data were gathered by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press. Over the period studied, the percentage worried about becoming infected increased in almost all social categories of respondents. With social category controlled, both those who followed the H1N1 outbreak closely and those who were more interested in reports about it were more likely to be worried about becoming infected. As time went on, interest in media reports declined, but worry over infection continued to increase. Our findings imply that despite the decrease in the percentage of the population expressing interest and following the news, media exposure was the most important factor as it explained the likelihood of being concerned about the possibility of infection.

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Literature highlights the relationship between perceived discrimination and frequency and severity of alcohol and cannabis use. One mechanism for explaining this is the nature of perceived discrimination as a potentially traumatic interpersonal stressor, which can lead to the depletion of social and personal resources. Within a Recovery Capital (RC) framework, the current study explores whether the existence of social capital in the form of parental monitoring, friend and teacher support can buffer the relationship between perceived discrimination and alcohol and cannabis use among immigrant and non-immigrant adolescents, by replenishing the depleted resources. The study included a representative sample of 8,598 students in Israel, aged 11–18, from the Health Behaviors of School Aged Children (HBSC) 2013–2014 data: 1503 immigrant adolescents from the Former Soviet Union [FSU] (N = 955) and Ethiopia (N = 548) and 7086 non-immigrants. Results confirmed that perceived discrimination was positively related to substance use; all three forms of social capital were negatively related to alcohol and cannabis use and moderated the relationship between perceived discrimination and substance use, with the exception of friend support in the case of alcohol use. When all three social capital measures were included together, the adult social capital measures were significant predictors of substance use. Results suggest that levels of social capital, especially as provided by parents and teachers, can help young people, both immigrant and majority group adolescents, to cope with perceived discrimination.

The study examines psychosomatic symptoms, and host and heritage identities as mediators of the relationship between discrimination and aggressive behavior and substance use. Israeli data from the 2013-14 Health Behaviors of School-aged Children study included a representative sample of 1503 first-and second-generation immigrant adolescents aged 11-17 years (45.2% male) from the Former Soviet Union and Ethiopia in Israel. Structural equation modeling, controlling for age, gender, family affluence and immigrant generation, showed different pathways for the two groups. For FSU-heritage adolescents, the relationship between discrimination and aggressive behavior and substance use was partially mediated by psychosomatic symptoms. Lower host and heritage identities also predicted psychosomatic symptoms. For Ethiopian-heritage adolescents, the relationship between discrimination and outcomes was fully mediated by psychosomatic symptoms and a weaker host identity. Results support an externalizing model, whereby discrimination leads to a weaker host identity and increased psychosomatic symptoms, associated with substance use and aggressive behavior.