Media consumption and psychological distress among older adults in the United States

Abstract

The consumption of news media covering national and global events, particularly those that invoke fear or worry, such as pandemics or terrorist attacks, may affect older adults’ mental wellbeing. Using the COVID-19 pandemic as a case study, this research analyzes nationally representative data from older adults in the US to address the following research questions: (1) What is the relationship between COVID-19-based media consumption and psychological distress? (2) Does any relationship between media consumption and psychological distress vary by gender, race/ethnicity, education, and marital status? Results indicate that (1) older adults who closely followed the news about the pandemic scored higher on psychological distress than those following less closely and (2) this relationship was more pronounced among Hispanic older adults. These findings are contextualized in the broader stress process model with a focus on a macro-level stressor and differential exposure and vulnerability resulting in variability in the relationship between the stressor and psychological distress.

Prevalence and predictors of psychological distress and common mental health concerns among Filipino university teachers amid the COVID‐19 pandemic

“…Alongside these disconsolate reports, some news coverage documented erroneous information, ranging from a false and misleading “Chinese virus” narrative to using disinfectants to cure COVID‐19 (Jain, 2021; Su et al, 2021; Zheng et al, 2020). Additionally, other negative news coverage during the pandemic included mass unemployment, depleting supplies of basic commodities, and uncertain and inconsistent reports from medical experts and lawmakers (Bauldry & Stainback, 2022). These, in turn, fueled fear, uncertainty, and mistrust among individuals, which eventually debilitated their mental health (Jain, 2021; Su et al, 2021; Zheng et al, 2020).…”

Racial-ethnic Differences in Anticipatory Stress about COVID-19 Mortality: An Evaluation of Multiple Mechanisms

“…These findings indicate that both mesolevel and microlevel contexts can contribute to racial-ethnic disparities in anticipatory stress. With respect to the macrolevel, Black and Latinx people who closely follow news about the pandemic are more likely to report psychological distress than Whites (Bauldry and Stainback 2022). Albeit suggestive, these higher levels of distress may be rooted in greater awareness of racial-ethnic disparities in COVID-19 infection among Black and Latinx Americans, widely reported by the media since the early stages of the pandemic (Eligon et al 2020; Mays and Newman 2020).…”