The impact of the media on the fear of contracting COVID-19
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.31211/rpics.2021.7.2.225Keywords:
Fear, Impact, Media, COVID-19Abstract
Objective: The current study sought out to assess the mass media impact on the fear of contracting COVID-19. We focused on people's trust in information associated with media type, worry regarding daily reports of statistics, concerns about prevention measures and warnings in the media, news consumption frequency, evaluation of the media in explaining and informing about the pandemic, and the fear of contracting the disease. Methods: The sample comprised 349 participants who completed online a Sociodemographic Questionnaire, a Mass Media Opinion Questionnaire, and the Fear of Contracting Covid-19 Scale (FCCS). Results: Fear of contracting COVID-19 was higher in women compared to men. Participants with higher fear of contracting the disease trusted more in the information provided by television, newspapers, and radio, but not social media. Higher scores on the FCCS were associated with higher scores on clarification, awareness, and information conveyed by media. Trust in newspapers, feelings regarding daily reports of COVID-19, news frequency consumption, and media evaluation in explaining and informing about the pandemic were predictors of fear of contracting COVID-19. Conclusions: Mass media proved to be fundamental in raising awareness and sensitization of the population.
Downloads
References
Ahmad, N. S., Hussain, Z., Abd Hamid, H. S., & Khairani, A. Z. (2021). Roles of social media and counselling support in reducing anxiety among Malaysian during Covid-19 pandemic. International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, 63, Artigo 102456. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijdrr.2021.102456
Aquino, S. D., & Vieira, L. S. (2020). Bem-estar e consumo de notícias durante a pandemia de COVID-19. Revista Fontes Documentais, 3, 165–174. https://bit.ly/3DzRsr7
Arrindell, W. A., Ross, M. W., Robert Bridges, K., van Hout, W., Hofman, A., & Sanderman, R. (1989). Fear of aids: Are there replicable, invariant questionnaire dimensions? Advances in Behaviour Research and Therapy, 11(2), 69–115. https://doi.org/brm2pv
Barbosa, M. (2020, April 16). Covid-19. Estudo revela que portugueses confiam nos media e desconfiam das redes sociais. Observador. https://bit.ly/3x3MaSp
Bernardino, C., Ferreira, H., & Chambel, T. (2016). Towards media for wellbeing. Proceedings of the ACM International Conference on Interactive Experiences for TV and Online Video, 171–177. https://doi.org/g6j3
Brewer, P. R., & Pritchard, D. (2008). Ideology and public trust in radio as a source for local news. Journal of Radio & Audio Media, 15(2), 124–135. https://doi.org/d8p5zq
Broche-Pérez, Y., Fernández-Fleites, Z., Jiménez-Puig, E., Fernández-Castillo, E., & Rodríguez-Martin, B. C. (2020). Gender and fear of COVID-19 in a Cuban population sample. International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction. https://doi.org/gh7zd6
Cabrera, A., Martins, C., & Cunha, I. (2020). A cobertura televisiva da pandemia de Covid-19 em Portugal: um estudo exploratório. Media & Jornalismo, 20(37), Artigo 185204. https://doi.org/g7cs
Cinelli, M., Quattrociocchi, W., Galeazzi, A., Valensise, C. M., Brugnoli, E., Schmidt, A. L., & Scala, A. (2020). The COVID-19 social media infodemic. Scientific Reports 10, Artigo 16598. https://doi.org/ghhx8d
Cohen, J. (1988). Statistical power analysis for the behavioral sciences (2.ª ed.). Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Cohen, J., Cohen, P., West, S., & Aiken, L. (2003). Applied multiple regression/correlation analysis for the behavioral sciences (3ª ed.). Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Dey, B. L., Al-Karaghouli, W., & Muhammad, S. S. (2020). Adoption, adaptation, use and impact of information systems during pandemic time and beyond: Research and managerial implications. Information Systems Management, 37(4), 298–302. https://doi.org/g7cq
Dhir, A., Yossatorn, Y., Kaur, P., & Chen, S. (2018). Online social media fatigue and psychological wellbeing—A study of compulsive use, fear of missing out, fatigue, anxiety and depression. International Journal of Information Management, 40, 141–152. https://doi.org/gd4rdb
Edelman. (2020). Edelman trust barometer 2020. Edelman Trust Barometer — Annual Global Study. Edelman.com.
Elvestad, E., Phillips, A., & Feuerstein, M. (2018). Can trust in traditional news media explain Cross-National differences in news exposure of young people online? Digital Journalism, 6(2), 216–235. https://doi.org/gmsbft
Freundt, T. (2009). El manejo de la confianza y la credibilidade periodisticas como activos intangibles en las empresas de communication. Folios, 18(20), 83-93.
Ghebreyesus, T. (2020, February 15). Detail. World Health Organization. https://bit.ly/3qV4rAs
Gradim, A. (2015). A televisão no seu labirinto. Em P. Serra, S. Sá, & W. Sousa Filho (Ed.), A televisão Ubíqua (pp. 69–82). LivrosLabcom. https://bit.ly/3qUUEKn
Hays, W. L. (1963). Statistics for psychologists. Holt, Rinehart and Winston.
Hossain, M. M., Sultana, A., & Purohit, N. (2020). Mental health outcomes of quarantine and isolation for infection prevention: A systematic umbrella review of the global evidence. Epidemiology and Health, PsyArXiv Preprints, 42, Artigo e2020038. https://doi.org/g6j4
Hua, J., & Shaw, R. (2020). Corona virus (COVID-19) “Infodemic” and emerging issues through a data lens: The case of China. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17(7), Artigo 2309. https://doi.org/ggq724
Hung, S. C., Yang, S. C., & Luo, Y. F. (2021). New media literacy, health status, anxiety, and preventative behaviors related to COVID-19: A cross-sectional study in Taiwan. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(21), Artigo 11247. https://doi.org/g7cv
Hutcheson, G. D., & Sofroniou, N. (1999). The multivariate social scientist: Introductory statistics using generalized linear models. SAGE Publications Ltd.
Kalogeropoulo, A., Suiter, J., Linards, U., & Eisenegger, M. (2019). News media trust and news consumption: Factors related to trust in news in 35 countries. International Journal of Communication, 13(22), 3672–3693. https://bit.ly/30JFnkw
Kovach, B., & Rosenstiel, T. (2005). Os elementos do jornalismo: O que os profissionais do jornalismo devem saber e o público deve exigir. Porto Editora.
Lewis, S. C. (2020). Lack of trust in the news media, institutional weakness, and relational journalism as a potential way forward. Journalism, 21(3), 345–348. https://doi.org/gjmjzk
Luhmann, N. (2021). Realidade dos meios de comunicação. Paulus.
Marktest - Estudos de Mercado, Audiências, Marketing Research, Media. (2020, 24 março). Quarentena impulsiona sites nacionais. (2020, March 24). https://bit.ly/3x2DZpi
Newman, N., Fletcher, R., Kalogeropoulos, A. & Nielsen, R. (2019). Reuters institute digital news. Digital news report 2019. University of Oxford. https://bit.ly/3HGVX5C
Newman, N., Fletcher, R., Schulz, A., Andı, S. & Nielsen, R. (2020). Reuters institute digital news. Report 2020. Reuters Institute. University of Oxford. https://bit.ly/3kVEz3k
Park, S., Fisher, C., Flew, T., & Dulleck, U. (2020). Global mistrust in news: The impact of social media on trust. International Journal on Media Management, 22(2), 83–96. https://doi.org/gh4g2d
Potter, J. W. (2012). Media effects. SAGE Publications, Inc.
Quintanilha L., T., Silva T., M., & Lapa, T. (2019). Fake news and its impact on trust in the news. Using the Portuguese case to establish lines of differentiation. Communication & Society, 32(3), 17–33. https://doi.org/gh4fbv
Reardon, S. (2015). Ebola's mental-health wounds linger in Africa. Nature, 519(7541), 13–14. https://doi.org/gk5b74
Rosen, J. B., & Schulkin, J. (1998). From normal fear to pathological anxiety. Psychological Review, 105(2), 325–350. https://doi.org/czp7sz
Rubin, G. J., & Wessely, S. (2020). The psychological effects of quarantining a city. BMJ, 363, m313. https://doi.org/ggpxb4
Salvaterra, F., & Chora, M. (2021). Relatório de investigação. https://bit.ly/3nB5vGo
Saud, M., Mashud, M., & Ida, R. (2020). Usage of social media during the pandemic: Seeking support and awareness about COVID-19 through social media platforms. Journal of Public Affairs, 20(4), Artigo e02417. https://doi.org/gktfwx
Shu, K., Sliva, A., Wang, S., Tang, J., & Liu, H. (2017). Fake news detection on social media. ACM SIGKDD Explorations Newsletter, 19(1), 22–36. https://doi.org/gf6d5n
Stamm, K., Johnson, M., & Martin, B. (1997). Differences among newspapers, television, and radio in their contribution to knowledge of the contract with america. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, 74(4), 687–702. https://doi.org/dgs43r
Stratton, J. (2018). Death and the spectacle in television and social media. Television & New Media, 21(1), 3–24. https://doi.org/gh8gjb
Tabachnick, B., & Fidell, L. (2007). Using multivariate statistics. Pearson Education, Inc.
Taylor, S. (2020). The psychology of pandemics: Preparing for the next global outbreak of infectious disease. Cambridge Scholars Publishing.
Trindade, I. A., & Ferreira, N. B. (2020). COVID-19 pandemic’s effects on disease and psychological outcomes of people with inflammatory bowel disease in Portugal: A preliminary research. Inflammatory Bowel Diseases, 27(8), 1224–1229. https://doi.org/g6j5
Wang, Y., McKee, M., Torbica, A., & Stuckler., D. (2019). Systematic literature review on the spread of health-related misinformation on social media. Social Science and Medicine, 240, Artigo 112552. https://doi.org/gf8kht
Wang, Y., Zhao, X., Feng, Q., Liu, L., Yao, Y., & Shi, J. (2020). Psychological assistance during the coronavirus disease 2019 outbreak in china. Journal of Health Psychology, 25(6), 733–737. https://doi.org/ggv479
Wilder-Smith, A., & Freedman, D. O. (2020). Isolation, quarantine, social distancing and community containment: Pivotal role for old-style public health measures in the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) outbreak. Journal of Travel Medicine, 27(2), 27. https://doi.org/ggpw9w
Wolf, M. (2006). Teorias da comunicação. Editorial Presença.
Ytre-Arne, B., & Moe, H. (2021). Doomscrolling, monitoring and avoiding: news use in COVID-19 pandemic lockdown. Journalism Studies, 1–17. https://doi.org/g7cr
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2021 Sofia Figueiredo, Ilda Massano-Cardoso
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
The authors retain the copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License that allows the sharing of work and recognition of authorship and initial publication in this journal.