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

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

doi:10.1007/s11920-014-0464-x

Cited by 230Posttraumatic Stress Disorder ResearchPublic Relations and Crisis CommunicationDisaster Management and Resilience

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

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Pfefferbaum, Betty, Newman, Elana, Nelson, Summer D., Nitiéma, Pascal, Pfefferbaum, Rose L., Rahman, Ambreen·2014·Current Psychiatry Reports

DOI 10.1007/s11920-014-0464-xPMC PMC4144190

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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.

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Indirect exposure is associated with stress symptoms and other psychopathologies comparable to those linked to direct exposure.
“Recent research provided extensive evidence that indirect exposure is associated with stress symptoms and other psychopathologies comparable to those linked to direct exposure [13,16,23-27].”
From Impact of Media-Induced Uncertainty on Mental Health: Narrative-Based Perspective. (2025) · cites this paper as [16]
The Results (Association between Contact with Media Coverage and Psychological Outcomes; page unavailable) report associations between disaster media viewing and posttraumatic stress, depression, stress reactions, and other outcomes. The References' annotation of Holman et al. reports higher acute stress after heavy media contact than after direct exposure in one study, but the review does not establish that outcomes from indirect and direct exposure are generally comparable across psychopathologies. (LLM, conf=0.83)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
A large body of previous research has established an association between media exposure and symptoms of posttraumatic stress related to various life-threatening stressors.
“A large body of previous research has convincingly established the association between media exposure and symptoms of posttraumatic stress related to various life-threatening stressors, such as war conflicts [9,10], terrorism and other acts of mass violence [11-15], natural disasters [16,17], and recently also the COVID-19 pandemic”
From Impact of Media-Induced Uncertainty on Mental Health: Narrative-Based Perspective. (2025) · cites this paper as [16]
The Results section reports significant associations between disaster television viewing and posttraumatic stress in most reviewed studies, including studies of terrorist attacks and natural disasters. The Discussion describes evidence for an association beyond other disaster exposures as preliminary, so the claim that research has 'convincingly established' a general association across media exposure overstates the review's conclusion. (LLM, conf=0.82)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

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Authors: Pfefferbaum, B., Newman, E., Nelson, S. D., Nitiéma, P., Pfefferbaum, R. L., & Rahman, A.
Affiliations: University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center (US)
University of Tulsa (US)
Phoenix College (US)
Corresponding author: Pfefferbaum, Betty
ORCID: Pfefferbaum, Betty
Newman, Elana
Nitiéma, Pascal
Pfefferbaum, Rose L.
Venue: Current Psychiatry Reports
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Published: 2014-07-27
Volume: 16
Issue: 9
Pages: 464-464
ISSN: 1523-3812 (ISSN-L)
1535-1645
DOI: 10.1007/s11920-014-0464-x
PMC: PMC4144190
OpenAlex: W2148450146
Cited by: 230
References: 27
Citations by year: 2026: 12 · 2025: 17 · 2024: 21 · 2023: 14 · 2022: 26 · 2021: 31 · 2020: 30 · 2019: 14 · 2018: 9 · 2017: 43 · 2016: 6 · 2015: 3 · 2014: 1 · 2012: 2
FWCI: 20.91
Type: journal article
Language: en
Open access: green
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
Licence: www.springer.com/tdm (tdm)
Locations: Current Psychiatry Reports (publishedVersion)
PubMed (publishedVersion)
PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
Funders: University of Oklahoma
National Institute of Mental Health (R25MH070569)
Topics: Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Research
Social Sciences › Communication › Public Relations and Crisis Communication
Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Disaster Management and Resilience
Keywords: post-traumatic stress disorder, post-traumatic stress, psychological outcomes, terrorism, media use, depression, anxiety, substance use, natural disasters, man-made disasters, social media
MeSH terms: Anxiety, Mental Disorders, Disasters, Fear, Humans, Mass Media, Stress, Psychological

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