@Article{info:doi/10.2196/36966,
author="Kellerman, John K
and Hamilton, Jessica L
and Selby, Edward A
and Kleiman, Evan M",
title="The Mental Health Impact of Daily News Exposure During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Ecological Momentary Assessment Study",
journal="JMIR Ment Health",
year="2022",
month="May",
day="25",
volume="9",
number="5",
pages="e36966",
keywords="news consumption; worry; hopelessness; ecological momentary assessment; news media; COVID-19; pandemic; mental health; depression; stress; psychological distress; mediation model; digital health",
abstract="Background: Consumption of distressing news media, which substantially increased during the COVID-19 pandemic, has demonstrable negative effects on mental health. Objective: This study examines the proximal impact of daily exposure to news about COVID-19 on mental health in the first year of the pandemic. Methods: A sample of 546 college students completed daily ecological momentary assessments (EMAs) for 8 weeks, measuring exposure to news about COVID-19, worry and optimism specifically related to COVID-19, hopelessness, and general worry. Results: Participants completed >80,000 surveys. Multilevel mediation models indicated that greater daily exposure to news about COVID-19 is associated with higher same-day and next-day worry about the pandemic. Elevations in worry specifically about COVID-19 were in turn associated with greater next-day hopelessness and general worry. Optimism about COVID-19 mediated the relationship between daily exposure to COVID-19 news and next-day general worry but was not related to hopelessness. Conclusions: This study demonstrates the mental health impact of daily exposure to COVID-19 news and highlights how worry about the pandemic contributes over time to hopelessness and general worry. ",
issn="2368-7959",
doi="10.2196/36966",
url="https://mental.jmir.org/2022/5/e36966",
url="https://doi.org/10.2196/36966",
url="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35377320"
}