The DOI matches its Crossref record; 21 of the 21 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
The novel coronavirus (COVID-2019) outbreak: Amplification of public health consequences by media exposure.
Open accessAbstract
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 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]
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredThe source backs part of the claim, not all of it — or backs it for a different population, condition or comparison.
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“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]
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In the citing paper
“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]
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In the citing paper
“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]
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredIn the citing paper
“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]
In the citing paper
“The constant inflow of “facts” and “numbers”—potentially contradictory, frequently lacking adequate context or explanation by experts—can generate confusion, increased anxiety, heightened stress responses, and downstream effects on health (14).”
From Cancer Care During COVID-19 Era: The Quality of Life of Patients With Thyroid Malignancies (2020) · cites this paper as [14]
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Citations
Cites
Systematic Literature Review on the Spread of Health-related Misinformation on Social Media
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Another Decade, Another Coronavirus
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Media’s role in broadcasting acute stress following the Boston Marathon bombings
Holman, E. A., Garfin, D. R., & Silver, R. C. (2014) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1073/pnas.1316265110 · Cited by 513 · cited 1×
“People who reported the highest media exposure reported higher acute stress than did people who were directly exposed to the bombings (Holman, Garfin, & Silver, 2014).”
BackgroundSelf-citationSilver, R. C., Holman, E. A., Andersen, J. P., Poulin, M., McIntosh, D. N., & Gil-Rivas, V. (2013) · Psychological Science · doi:10.1177/0956797612460406 · Cited by 296
Self-citationSocial media and crisis management: CERC, search strategies, and Twitter content
Lachlan, K. A., Spence, P. R., Lin, X., Najarian, K. M., & Greco, M. D. (2015) · Computers in Human Behavior · doi:10.1016/j.chb.2015.05.027 · Cited by 257
Holman, E. A., Silver, R. C., Poulin, M., Andersen, J., Gil-Rivas, V., & McIntosh, D. N. (2008) · Archives of General Psychiatry · doi:10.1001/archgenpsychiatry.2007.6 · Cited by 233
Self-citationThompson, R. R., Garfin, D. R., Holman, E. A., & Silver, R. C. (2017) · Clinical Psychological Science · doi:10.1177/2167702617692030 · Cited by 224
Self-citationMedia exposure to mass violence events can fuel a cycle of distress
Thompson, R. R., Jones, N. M., Holman, E. A., & Silver, R. C. (2019) · Science Advances · doi:10.1126/sciadv.aav3502 · Cited by 209
Self-citationMedia Exposure to Collective Trauma, Mental Health, and Functioning: Does It Matter What You See?
Holman, E. A., Garfin, D. R., Lubens, P., & Silver, R. C. (2019) · Clinical Psychological Science · doi:10.1177/2167702619858300 · Cited by 201
Self-citationAcute stress and subsequent health outcomes: A systematic review
Garfin, D. R., Thompson, R. R., & Holman, E. A. (2018) · Journal of Psychosomatic Research · doi:10.1016/j.jpsychores.2018.05.017 · Cited by 184
Self-citationDistress and rumor exposure on social media during a campus lockdown
Jones, N. M., Thompson, R. R., Schetter, C. D., & Silver, R. C. (2017) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1073/pnas.1708518114 · Cited by 151
Self-citationTaha, S. A., Matheson, K., & Anisman, H. (2014) · Stress and Health · doi:10.1002/smi.2505 · Cited by 123
Ng, Y. J., Yang, J. Z., & Vishwanath, A. (2017) · Journal of Risk Research · doi:10.1080/13669877.2017.1313762 · Cited by 119
Garfin, D. R., Holman, E. A., & Silver, R. C. (2015) · Psychological Science · doi:10.1177/0956797614561043 · Cited by 114
Self-citationShould we fear “flu fear” itself? Effects of H1N1 influenza fear on ED use
McDonnell, W. M., Nelson, D. S., & Schunk, J. E. (2011) · The American Journal of Emergency Medicine · doi:10.1016/j.ajem.2010.11.027 · Cited by 76
Public Understanding of Ebola Risks: Mastering an Unfamiliar Threat
Fischhoff, B., Wong‐Parodi, G., Garfin, D. R., Holman, E. A., & Silver, R. C. (2017) · Risk Analysis · doi:10.1111/risa.12794 · Cited by 76
Self-citationBeatty, T. K. M., Shimshack, J. P., & Volpe, R. (2018) · Journal of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists · doi:10.1086/703379 · Cited by 68
Societal Responses to Familiar Versus Unfamiliar Risk: Comparisons of Influenza and SARS in Korea
Hong, S., & Collins, A. R. (2006) · Risk Analysis · doi:10.1111/j.1539-6924.2006.00812.x · Cited by 52
Media Use and Exposure to Graphic Content in the Week Following the Boston Marathon Bombings
Jones, N. M., Garfin, D. R., Holman, E. A., & Silver, R. C. (2016) · American Journal of Community Psychology · doi:10.1002/ajcp.12073 · Cited by 39
Self-citationBeatty, T., Shimshack, J. P., & Volpe, R. (2018) · SSRN Electronic Journal · doi:10.2139/ssrn.3208765 · Cited by 7
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Holmes, E. A., O'Connor, R. C., Perry, V. H., Tracey, I., Wessely, S., Arseneault, L., Ballard, C., Christensen, H., Cohen Silver, R., Everall, I., et al. (2020) · The Lancet Psychiatry · doi:10.1016/s2215-0366(20)30168-1 · Cited by 5,715
Suicide risk and prevention during the COVID-19 pandemic
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Functional Fear Predicts Public Health Compliance in the COVID-19 Pandemic
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“Information should also be provided without sensationalism or disturbing images (Garfin et al., 2020).”
Ellis, W. E., Dumas, T. M., & Forbes, L. M. (2020) · Canadian Journal of Behavioural Science / Revue canadienne des sciences du comportement · doi:10.1037/cbs0000215 · Cited by 830
Metadata
- Authors
- Garfin, D. R., Silver, R. C., & Holman, E. A.
- Affiliations
- University of California, Irvine (US)
- Venue
- Health Psychology
- Published
- 2020-05
- Volume
- 39
- Issue
- 5
- Pages
- 355-357
- ISSN
- 0278-6133 (ISSN-L)
- 1930-7810
- 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
- hybrid
- doi.org
- 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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