TY  - JOUR
AU  - Kellerman, John K
AU  - Hamilton, Jessica L
AU  - Selby, Edward A
AU  - Kleiman, Evan M
PY  - 2022
DA  - 2022/5/25
TI  - The Mental Health Impact of Daily News Exposure During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Ecological Momentary Assessment Study
JO  - JMIR Ment Health
SP  - e36966
VL  - 9
IS  - 5
KW  - news consumption
KW  - worry
KW  - hopelessness
KW  - ecological momentary assessment
KW  - news media
KW  - COVID-19
KW  - pandemic
KW  - mental health
KW  - depression
KW  - stress
KW  - psychological distress
KW  - mediation model
KW  - digital health
AB  - 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. 
SN  - 2368-7959
UR  - https://mental.jmir.org/2022/5/e36966
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2196/36966
UR  - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35377320
DO  - 10.2196/36966
ID  - info:doi/10.2196/36966
ER  -