Media Use and Exposure to Graphic Content in the Week Following the Boston Marathon Bombings

Abstract

Traditional and new media inform and expose the public to potentially distressing graphic content following disasters, but predictors of media use have received limited attention. We

Increase in the prescription rate of antidepressants after the Sewol Ferry disaster in Ansan, South Korea

“…Indeed, the sudden loss of family members, relatives, close friends, or acquaintances due to a disaster heightens the risk of mental health problems including PTSD, MDD, psychosomatic pain, and prolonged grief disorders (Kristensen et al, 2012). Furthermore, repetitive broadcasts about the disaster by mass media can accentuate the collective traumatization of residents in a disaster-affected community (Jones et al, 2016;Woo et al, 2015). We suspect that all 3 of the aforementioned hypotheses explain the effects of the Sewol Ferry disaster on mental health and antidepressant prescription rates in Ansan city compared to other communities.…”

The association between disaster exposure and media use on post-traumatic stress disorder following Typhoon Hato in Macao, China

“…This trend was also found among Macao youth, with 62% (vs 30%) reporting getting their news online versus television (Lam, 2018). Compared to other populations, young adults and college students may be more vulnerable to psychological distress associated with media exposure since they frequently use both traditional and new forms of media (Jones, Garfin, Holman, & Silver, 2016). However, few studies have examined this association.…”

Distress and rumor exposure on social media during a campus lockdown

“…However, when a crisis unfolds, people now increasingly acquire critical updates from social media (e.g., Twitter; refs. 11 – 15 ), along with traditional media channels ( 16 ).…”

“…What people see when they are exposed to media-based coverage of a crisis event has been studied previously in the context of collective traumas, such as terrorist attacks and natural disasters that affect many people and occur without warning ( 16 ). Large studies of representative US samples demonstrate that, among other variables, repeated indirect, media-based exposure to collective traumas is associated with event-related distress, even when controlling for pretrauma media habits and preexisting mental health conditions ( 18 , 19 ).…”

“…For example, in a study following the Boston Marathon bombings (BMB), researchers found that 6 or more hours of BMB-related media use was associated with higher acute stress than was direct exposure to the bombings ( 18 ). This relationship is thought to be at least partly driven by the transmission of graphic, event-related imagery via news coverage ( 16 , 20 ). However, when images are not relevant or available, other content, like rumors or conflicting information, may also contribute to the distress individuals experience during a crisis.…”