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

  • Disaster Psychiatry (CS North and B Pfefferbaum, Section Editors)
  • Published:
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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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Notes

  1. The general term “media” is used rather than “mass media,” “news,” or “journalism” to reflect the general way in which studies included in this review phrased questions about disaster coverage.

  2. The terminology used in this report reflects the imprecise classifications of media forms described in the reviewed studies.

References

Papers of particular interest, published recently, have been highlighted as: • Of importance •• Of major importance

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Acknowledgments and Disclosures

Points of view in this document are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official position of Phoenix Community College, the University of Missouri; the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, or the University of Tulsa.

Compliance with Ethics Guidelines

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Conflict of Interest

None of the authors of this manuscript report any actual or potential conflicts of interest.

Human and Animal Rights and Informed Consent

This article does not contain any studies with human or animal subjects performed by any of the authors.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, College of Medicine, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, P.O. Box 26901 – WP3217, Oklahoma City, OK, 73126, USA

    Betty Pfefferbaum

  2. Terrorism and Disaster Center, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, P.O. Box 26901 – WP3217, Oklahoma City, OK, 73126, USA

    Betty Pfefferbaum

  3. Department of Psychology, The University of Tulsa Institute of Trauma, Adversity, and Injustice, The University of Tulsa, 800 South Tucker Drive, Tulsa, OK, 74103, USA

    Elana Newman & Summer D. Nelson

  4. Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, College of Medicine, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, P.O. Box 26901 – WP3214, Oklahoma City, OK, 73126, USA

    Pascal Nitiéma

  5. Terrorism and Disaster Center, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, P.O. Box 26901 – WP3214, Oklahoma City, OK, 73126, USA

    Pascal Nitiéma

  6. Terrorism and Disaster Center, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO, 65211, USA

    Rose L. Pfefferbaum

  7. Department of Liberal Arts, Phoenix Community College (Faculty Emeritus), Phoenix, AZ, 85013, USA

    Rose L. Pfefferbaum

  8. 2329 NW 154th St., Edmond, OK, 73013, USA

    Rose L. Pfefferbaum

  9. Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, College of Medicine, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, P.O. Box 26901 – WP3445, Oklahoma City, OK, 73126, USA

    Ambreen Rahman

Authors
  1. Betty Pfefferbaum
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  2. Elana Newman
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  3. Summer D. Nelson
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  4. Pascal Nitiéma
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  5. Rose L. Pfefferbaum
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  6. Ambreen Rahman
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Betty Pfefferbaum.

Additional information

This article is part of the Topical Collection on Disaster Psychiatry

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Pfefferbaum, B., Newman, E., Nelson, S.D. et al. Disaster Media Coverage and Psychological Outcomes: Descriptive Findings in the Extant Research. Curr Psychiatry Rep 16, 464 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11920-014-0464-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11920-014-0464-x

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