Media Exposure and Post-traumatic Stress Symptoms in the Wake of the November 2015 Paris Terrorist Attacks: A Population-Based Study in France
Open accessAbstract
The intense mass media coverage of the Paris terrorist attacks on November 13, 2015 exposed a majority of the French population to the attacks. Prior research has documented the association between media exposure to terrorism and post-traumatic stress symptoms (PTSS). The present study replicated and extended these findings in a French sample. A population-based sample (N = 1,760) was drawn from a national web-enabled panel in June 2016. Hours of attack-related media exposure (i.e., TV-watching, viewing internet images, engaging in social media exchanges) in the 3 days following the attacks were assessed. Multivariate regression models, adjusting for gender, age, direct exposure (i.e., witnessing in person or knowing someone injured or killed), residential area, social support, pre-attack mental health service utilization, and other adverse life events, examined the association between media exposure and PTSS (assessed using the self-report PCL-5). Compared to those reporting less than 2 hours of daily attack-related television exposure, those reporting 2–4 hours (β = 3.1, 95% CI = 0.8–5.3) or >4 hours (β = 4.7, 95% CI = 2.0–7.4) of media exposure reported higher attack-related PTSS. This finding was replicated with social media use: those with moderate (β = 3.2, 95% CI = 0.9–5.5) or high (β = 6.8, 95% CI = 1.9–11.7) use reported higher PTSS than those reporting no use. Subanalyses demonstrated that media exposure and PTSS were not associated in those directly exposed to the attacks. Results highlight the potential public health risk of extensive mass media exposure to traumatic events.
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Even ≥1 hour of daily television watching might have some negative consequences.
“Even ≥1 hours of daily television watching might have some negative consequences [10,13,167].”
From Impact of Media-Induced Uncertainty on Mental Health: Narrative-Based Perspective. (2025) · cites this paper as [167]
The Results and Methods report that 2–4 hours or more of daily exposure to images of the Paris attacks on TV or the internet was associated with higher post-traumatic stress symptoms than less than 2 hours. They do not establish a negative consequence at one hour per day, or for television watching in general. (LLM, conf=0.88)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredA study of New York City employees three years after the 9/11 attacks revealed that early media contact and distress from graphic images were linked to re-experiencing symptoms and hyperarousal, even among unexposed participants.
“For instance, a study of New York City employees three years after the 9/11 attacks revealed that early media contact and distress from graphic images were linked to re-experiencing symptoms and hyperarousal, even among unexposed participants.”
From Comprehensive review of chronic stress pathways and the efficacy of behavioral stress reduction programs (BSRPs) in managing diseases. (2024) · cites this paper as [133]
In Chinese populations, prolonged media exposure and social media use were associated with higher acute stress and probable acute stress disorder.
“In Chinese populations, prolonged media exposure and social media use were associated with higher acute stress and probable acute stress disorder.”
From Comprehensive review of chronic stress pathways and the efficacy of behavioral stress reduction programs (BSRPs) in managing diseases. (2024) · cites this paper as [133]
Extensive media coverage of the Paris terrorist attacks correlated with higher PTSS, especially in those exposed to over four hours of daily media.
“Similarly, extensive media coverage of the Paris terrorist attacks correlated with higher PTSS, especially in those exposed to over four hours of daily media.”
From Comprehensive review of chronic stress pathways and the efficacy of behavioral stress reduction programs (BSRPs) in managing diseases. (2024) · cites this paper as [133]
A study involving 404 socioeconomically diverse adults found that higher frequencies of TV viewing, media sharing, and online friendships were significantly associated with greater PTSD symptom severity, even after controlling for depression severity.
“Another study involving 404 socioeconomically diverse adults found that higher frequencies of TV viewing, media sharing, and online friendships were significantly associated with greater PTSD symptom severity, even after controlling for depression severity [131,132,133,134].”
From Comprehensive review of chronic stress pathways and the efficacy of behavioral stress reduction programs (BSRPs) in managing diseases. (2024) · cites this paper as [133]
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- Authors
- Robert, M., Stene, L. E., Garfin, D. R., Vandentorren, S., Motreff, Y., du Roscoat, E., & Pirard, P.
- Affiliations
- Santé Publique France (FR)
- Norwegian Centre for Violence and Traumatic Stress Studies (NO)
- University of California, Irvine (US)
- Corresponding author
- Stene, Lise Eilin
- Venue
- Frontiers in Psychiatry
- Publisher
- Frontiers Media SA
- Published
- 2021-05-21
- Volume
- 12
- Pages
- 509457-509457
- ISSN
- 1664-0640 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC8175798
- OpenAlex
- W3165042436
- Cited by
- 25
- References
- 44
- Citations by year
- 2026: 7 · 2025: 5 · 2024: 3 · 2023: 5 · 2022: 3 · 2021: 2
- FWCI
- 2.22
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Frontiers in Psychiatry (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- Funders
- Public Health Agency
- Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique
- Norges Forskningsråd (288321)
- National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (MD013910, K01MD013910)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Research
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Terrorism, Counterterrorism, and Political Violence
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › COVID-19 and Mental Health
- Keywords
- media exposure, posttraumatic stress symptoms, terrorism, television news exposure, social media use, public health risk, replication
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