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Cited by 1,270COVID-19 and Mental HealthCommunication and COVID-19 ImpactPublic Relations and Crisis Communication

The novel coronavirus (COVID-2019) outbreak: Amplification of public health consequences by media exposure.

Open access
Garfin, Dana Rose, Silver, Roxane Cohen, Holman, E. Alison·2020·Health Psychology
DOI 10.1037/hea0000875PMC PMC7735659
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Abstract

The 2019 novel coronavirus (COVID-2019) has led to a serious outbreak of often severe respiratory disease, which originated in China and has quickly become a global pandemic, with far-reaching consequences that are unprecedented in the modern era. As public health officials seek to contain the virus and mitigate the deleterious effects on worldwide population health, a related threat has emerged: global media exposure to the crisis. We review research suggesting that repeated media exposure to community crisis can lead to increased anxiety, heightened stress responses that can lead to downstream effects on health, and misplaced health-protective and help-seeking behaviors that can overburden health care facilities and tax available resources. We draw from work on previous public health crises (i.e., Ebola and H1N1 outbreaks) and other collective trauma (e.g., terrorist attacks) where media coverage of events had unintended consequences for those at relatively low risk for direct exposure, leading to potentially severe public health repercussions. We conclude with recommendations for individuals, researchers, and public health officials with respect to receiving and providing effective communications during a public health crisis. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

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  • Social media has fueled the rapid spread of misinformation and rumors, which can create a sense of panic and confusion among the public.

    “Social media has also fueled the rapid spread of misinformation and rumors, which can create a sense of panic and confusion among the public [76]”

    From Impact of Media-Induced Uncertainty on Mental Health: Narrative-Based Perspective. (2025) · cites this paper as [76]

    The paper’s main text (page not specified) says misinformation can spread on social media and heighten perceived risk and fear. It also discusses rumors proliferating during a crisis alongside psychological distress. It does not establish that social media made the spread rapid or that the resulting effect was public confusion. (LLM, conf=0.84)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

  • Media consumption behaviors are linked to increased anxiety, depression, and stress, making interventions that focus on reducing media exposure especially beneficial for younger cohorts.

    “Such media consumption behaviors are linked to increased anxiety, depression, and stress, making interventions that focus on reducing media exposure especially beneficial for this cohort [64,76].”

    From Impact of Media-Induced Uncertainty on Mental Health: Narrative-Based Perspective. (2025) · cites this paper as [76]

    The main text (page not provided) links repeated crisis-related media exposure to distress and acute stress, and advises the public to limit repetitive exposure. It does not specifically establish increased depression or show that reducing exposure is especially beneficial for younger cohorts. (LLM, conf=0.88)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

  • Excessive worry about one's health can lead to inappropriate healthcare seeking behaviour that may, in turn, add further pressure to the already burdened healthcare system.

    “For example, excessive worry about one's health can lead to inappropriate healthcare seeking behaviour that may, in turn, add further pressure to the already burdened healthcare system [4,5].”

    From Brief Online Cognitive Behavioural Intervention for Dysfunctional Worry Related to the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Randomised Controlled Trial (2021) · cites this paper as [5]

  • Many studies rely on self-reported data, which may be subject to recall bias, as participants often struggle to accurately estimate their media consumption habits.

    “Many studies rely on self-reported data, which may be subject to recall bias, as participants often struggle to accurately estimate their media consumption habits [76].”

    From Impact of Media-Induced Uncertainty on Mental Health: Narrative-Based Perspective. (2025) · cites this paper as [76]

    The paper’s discussion of prior media-exposure studies (section “The Novel Coronavirus (COVID-2019) Outbreak: Amplification of Public Health Consequences by Media Exposure”; page unavailable) mentions people reporting their exposure, but does not address whether many studies rely on self-reported data. Searches for recall bias and inaccurate estimates of media consumption found no passage discussing those limitations. (LLM, conf=0.77)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

  • Online media has a profound impact on society across domains such as marketing, finance, health and politics.

    “As such, online media has a profound impact on society across domains such as marketing10,11, finance12–14, health15 and politics16–19.”

    From Negativity drives online news consumption (2023) · cites this paper as [15]

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Authors
Garfin, D. R., Silver, R. C., & Holman, E. A.
Affiliations
University of California, Irvine (US)
ORCID
Venue
Health Psychology
Publisher
American Psychological Association (APA)
Published
2020-05
Volume
39
Issue
5
Pages
355-357
ISSN
  • 0278-6133 (ISSN-L)
  • 1930-7810
DOI
10.1037/hea0000875
PMC
PMC7735659
OpenAlex
W3012636922
Semantic Scholar
9c2b81e3111927363d3e86bba40c3b4558223e33
Cited by
1,270
References
20
Citations by year
2026: 54 · 2025: 68 · 2024: 126 · 2023: 171 · 2022: 245 · 2021: 375 · 2020: 230
FWCI
102.18
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • Health Psychology (publishedVersion, other-oa)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
  • eScholarship (California Digital Library) (submittedVersion)
Funders
National Science Foundation (BCS-1342637; BCS-1451812; SES-1505184)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › COVID-19 and Mental Health
  • Social Sciences › Communication › Communication and COVID-19 Impact
  • Social Sciences › Communication › Public Relations and Crisis Communication
Keywords
COVID-19 pandemic, media exposure, public health crisis, anxiety, stress response, help-seeking, collective trauma, Ebola outbreak, H1N1 pandemic, public health communication, media coverage of crises
MeSH terms
Betacoronavirus, COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2, Humans, Pneumonia, Viral, Public Health, Coronavirus, Coronavirus Infections, Pandemics, Social Media

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