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Review
. 2014 Sep;16(9):464.
doi: 10.1007/s11920-014-0464-x.

Disaster media coverage and psychological outcomes: descriptive findings in the extant research

Betty Pfefferbaum  1 , Elana Newman, Summer D Nelson, Pascal Nitiéma, Rose L Pfefferbaum, Ambreen Rahman
Affiliations
Review

Disaster media coverage and psychological outcomes: descriptive findings in the extant research

Betty Pfefferbaum et al. Curr Psychiatry Rep. 2014 Sep.

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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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of Interest

Betty Pfefferbaum, Pascal Nitiéma, Rose L. Pfefferbaum, and Ambreen Rahman declare that they have no conflict of interest.

References

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