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Abstract

Exposure to graphic television images may exacerbate psychological symptoms in disaster situations. We tested the hypotheses that (1) more frequent viewing of television images of the September 11 terrorist attacks was associated with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression, and that (2) direct exposure to disaster events had an interactive effect with media viewing. We recruited 1,008 adult residents of the borough of Manhattan in New York City through a random-digit-dial telephone survey conducted between October 16 and November 15, 2001. Respondents who repeatedly saw "people falling or jumping from the towers of the World Trade Center" had higher prevalence of PTSD (17.4%) and depression (14.7%) than those who did not (6.2% and 5.3%, respectively). Among respondents who were directly affected by the attacks (e.g., had a friend killed), those who watched this television image frequently were more likely to have PTSD and depression than those who did not. Among respondents not directly affected by the attacks, prevalence of PTSD and depression was not associated with frequency of television image viewing. Specific disaster-related television images were associated with PTSD and depression among persons who were directly exposed to a disaster. Future research should address causal directionality of this association.
... It takes into account that visual communication is a complex process which entails cognitive and emotional reactions to perceived visuals (Müller et al., 2012). While there are strong indications that not only experiencing a traumatic situation, but also experiencing convincing factual photo coverage of a traumatic event can have serious psychological consequences that are similar to e.g., post-traumatic stress disorder (Ahern et al., 2002(Ahern et al., , 2004Saylor et al., 2003;Liu and Liu, 2020), this study will only allow for the analysis of self-reported empathic states as well as observed empathic reactions. No therapeutic or psychiatric assessment of the actually experienced emotional states during the viewing and subsequent reflection on the press photographs took place, since this is no psychological study. ...
... However, a particular "Note" is added in the DSM5 (American Psychiatric Association, 2013, p. 273) that this type of vicarious traumatization "does not include events that are witnessed only in electronic media, television, movies, or pictures." Yet, several studies indicate that watching visuals particularly on digital media can lead to symptoms similar to those of experiencing the traumatic event yourself (Ahern et al., 2002(Ahern et al., , 2004Saylor et al., 2003;Liu and Liu, 2020). In a pivotal study on New Yorkers' visual coping after 9/11, Ahern et al. (2002) assume that "more frequent viewing of television images of the September 11 terrorist attacks" is "associated with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression" (Ahern et al., 2002, p. 289). ...
... Yet, several studies indicate that watching visuals particularly on digital media can lead to symptoms similar to those of experiencing the traumatic event yourself (Ahern et al., 2002(Ahern et al., , 2004Saylor et al., 2003;Liu and Liu, 2020). In a pivotal study on New Yorkers' visual coping after 9/11, Ahern et al. (2002) assume that "more frequent viewing of television images of the September 11 terrorist attacks" is "associated with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression" (Ahern et al., 2002, p. 289). The telephone survey conducted with 1,008 adult residents of the borough Manhattan in the two months directly following the attack resulted in frequent-TV-watchers having a much higher likelihood of PTSD and/or depression than those participants showing a lower media consumption pattern (Ahern et al., 2002, p. 289). ...
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This study scrutinizes press photographs published during the first 6 weeks of the Russian War in Ukraine, beginning February 24th, 2022. Its objective is to shed light on the emotions evoked in Internet-savvy audiences. This empirical research aims to contribute to the understanding of emotional media effects that shape attitudes and actions of ordinary citizens. Main research questions are: What kind of empathic reactions are observed during the Q-sort study? Which visual patterns are relevant for which emotional evaluations and attributions? The assumption is that the evaluations and attributions of empathy are not random, but follow specific patterns. The empathic reactions are based on visual patterns which, in turn, influence the type of empathic reaction. The identification of specific categories for visual and emotional reaction patterns are arrived at in different methodological processes. Visual pattern categories were developed inductively, using the art history method of iconography-iconology to identify six distinct types of visual motifs in a final sample of 33 war photographs. The overarching categories for empathic reactions—empty empathy, vicarious traumatization and witnessing—were applied deductively, building on E. Ann Kaplan's pivotal distinctions. The main result of this research are three novel categories that combine visual patterns with empathic reaction patterns. The labels for these categories are a direct result of the Q-factorial analysis, interpreted through the lense of iconography-iconology. An exploratory nine-scale forced-choice Q-sort study (Nstimuli = 33) was implemented, followed by self-report interviews with a total of 25 participants [F = 16 (64%), M = 9 (36%), Mage = 26.4 years]. Results from this exploratory research include motivational statements on the meanings of war photography from semi-structured post-sort-interviews. The major result of this study are three types of visual patterns (“factors”) that govern distinct empathic reactions in participants: Factor 1 is “veiled empathy” with highest empathy being attributed to photos showing victims whose corpses or faces were veiled. Additional features of “veiled empathy” are a strong anti-politician bias and a heightened awareness of potential visual manipulation. Factor 2 is “mirrored empathy” with highest empathy attributions to photos displaying human suffering openly. Factor 3 focused on the context. It showed a proclivity for documentary style photography. This pattern ranked photos without clear contextualization lower in empathy than those photos displaying the fully contextualized setting. To the best of our knowledge, no study has tested empathic reactions to war photography empirically. In this respect, the study is novel, but also exploratory. Findings like the three patterns of visual empathy might be helpful for photo selection processes in journalism, for political decision-making, for the promotion of relief efforts, and for coping strategies in civil society to deal with the potentially numbing or traumatizing visual legacy of the War in Ukraine.
... Exposure to disaster media coverage is considered as deleterious as direct trauma exposure (Lubens & Holman, 2017), depending upon the type of disaster and individuals' attributes (Pfefferbaum et al., 2019). This issue has been most frequently studied in terrorist incidents (Ahern et al., 2002(Ahern et al., , 2004Busso et al., 2014;Pfefferbaum et al., 2001Pfefferbaum et al., , 2019Stickley et al., 2020). Television images of the September 11 Terrorist Attacks are suggested to be linked to PTSD (Ahern et al., 2002(Ahern et al., , 2004, although non-work-related television exposure is no longer included in the current diagnostic criteria of PTSD in the DSM-5 (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). ...
... This issue has been most frequently studied in terrorist incidents (Ahern et al., 2002(Ahern et al., , 2004Busso et al., 2014;Pfefferbaum et al., 2001Pfefferbaum et al., , 2019Stickley et al., 2020). Television images of the September 11 Terrorist Attacks are suggested to be linked to PTSD (Ahern et al., 2002(Ahern et al., , 2004, although non-work-related television exposure is no longer included in the current diagnostic criteria of PTSD in the DSM-5 (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). The issue was also studied in natural disasters. ...
... In the present study, images of victims facing adverse events associated with the earthquake were implicated in producing persistent psychological impacts. A previous study showed that an image of 'people falling or jumping from the towers of the WTC' after the September 11 Terrorist Attacks was most consistently associated with PTSD and depression, compared with those of airplane crashes or building collapses (Ahern et al., 2002). In the present study, human images were also shown to have significant and persistent psychological impacts, although we did not compare them to the impacts of non-human images. ...
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Background: Exposure to natural disaster media coverage is associated with mental health problems, but its long-term impacts are still unclear. Also, no study has analysed the psychological impact of exposure to natural disaster media coverage among children who are generally sensitive to threatening events. Objective: We aimed to examine how television images of victims after the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake were associated with mental health among children and their parents. Methods: In 2012, questionnaires for sociodemographic factors were distributed to 2053 families. Parents who provided written consent were contacted in 2013 and invited to provide information on mental health problems (outcome) and retrospectively provide information on television watching at the time of the earthquake (exposure). We used data from 159 parents who completed the survey as the final sample. We used a dichotomous variable to evaluate exposure to media coverage. Multivariable regression was used to examine the association between exposure to television images of victims and mental health, adjusting for potential confounders. Bias-corrected and accelerated bootstrap confidence intervals (CIs) were used. Results: Exposure to television images of victims was significantly associated with worse psychopathology among children (β, 1.51; 95% CI, 0.07–2.96) and greater psychological distress among their parents (β, 1.49; 95% CI, 0.28–2.70). Child psychopathology and parental psychological distress were significantly correlated (r = 0.36, p < .001). Conclusions: Exposure to television images of disaster victims may produce long-term impacts on mental health among children and their parents. To reduce the likelihood of mental health problems associated with disasters, clinicians may recommend reducing exposure to television images of victims.
... But on the other hand, since the coverage in question typically concerns traumatic content such as mass casualties and a potential nuclear conflict, it might unintentionally affect millions of media users in an emotionally negative way (Neria and Sullivan, 2011). Based on available studies concerning responses to the media coverage of other military conflicts (Palgi et al., 2017), health crises (Garfin et al., 2020;Levaot et al., 2022;Scrivner et al., 2021), and disasters (Pfefferbaum et al., 2014;Cho et al., 2003;Ahern et al., 2002), such responses might include symptoms of anxiety, distress and lowered psychological resilience. ...
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This study investigates the relationships between perceiving media as a positive or negative influence (both news media and fictional media) during the war in Ukraine in 2022 and anxiety, distress, and resilience. Corroborating existing research, our study (N = 393, 47.3% male) showed that there was a clear relationship between the perceived negative impact of both news and fictional media during the war and increased symptoms of anxiety (b = .09, SE = 0.04, p = .024; b = 0.16, SE = 0.04, p < .001, respectively) and distress (b = 0.08, SE = 0.04, p = .047; b = 0.17, SE = 0.04, p < .001, respectively) as well as lowered psychological resilience (b = - 0.10, SE = 0.05, p = .047; b = - 0.15, SE = 0.06, p = .009, respectively). The study is the first to demonstrate this association for fictional media. Contrary to expectations, however, the perception of a positive impact of both news and fiction was not associated with decreased symptoms of anxiety and distress or higher resilience.
... First, the mental health consequences of such events among those indirectly exposed to a disaster may be just as deteriorating as those directly exposed to or close to the disaster epicenter (40). Most of the people interviewed in the post-9/11 national surveys reported that they were indirectly exposed to the attacks, mostly through TV broadcasts (67). Studies have found that religious coping, a secure relationship with God, and belief in the meaning of life are inversely related to PTSD. ...
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Natural disasters, which are considered as one of the most important problems of recent times, affecting all humanity, have become a public health problem. Disasters have effects on both individuals and society in different dimensions, including health, economic, social, and psychological, and can have serious negative consequences. The number of individuals affected by natural disasters is increasing every year. While it is clear that natural disasters threaten human life and bodily health, little attention has been paid to their effects on mental health. Natural disasters threaten our psychological well-being in many ways, cause both short-term and long-term psychological distress and create a significant psychological burden. Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a syndrome that occurs as a result of a serious threat or physical injury, a near-death experience, war-related trauma, sexual assault, interpersonal conflicts, child abuse, or a medical illness. When the literature is examined comprehensively, it has been determined that the incidence of PTSD after natural disasters is quite high. Causes of post-disaster PTSD include the nature of the trauma, its severity, loss of relatives and/or property, poor coping skills, displacement, and direct exposure to disaster. Studies have shown that both non-pharmacological and pharmacological treatments are effective on PTSD.
... Most of the studies investigating this were based on the attacks in the United States on 11 September 2001 (hereafter 9/11). One such study showed that post-traumatic stress reactions could be linked with seeing images of the attacks on the Twin Towers, as well as seeing people jump out of the towers [2]. Another study, in a representative sample in the U.S., showed that 22% of the population reported 9/11 to be their worst life event, even though they only viewed it through the media [3]. ...
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Abstract: Introduction: After terrorist attacks, media coverage of the attacks is extensive. There are some indications that there is an association between watching the media coverage and certain health reactions, both mental and somatic. Most studies occur in the United States and often months after the initial attack. In the current study, we investigated the terrorist attacks in Belgium on 22 March 2016. Methods: An online cross-sectional survey was conducted one week after the attacks among the general population of Belgium. We measured hours of media watching of the terrorist attacks (hereafter media watching), adjusted scales of the Patient Health Questionaire-4 (PHQ-4) to measure mental symptoms and the Patient Health Questionaire-15 (PHQ-15) to measure somatic symptoms, proximity to Brussels (home, work and overall proximity) and background factors such as gender, age and level of education. Respondents were included if they answered the survey between 29 March 2016 and 5 April 2016. Results: A total of 2972 respondents were included. Overall, media watching was significantly associated with both mental symptoms (p < 0.001) and somatic symptoms (p < 0.001), while controlling for age, gender, level of education and proximity. Watching more than three hours of media was associated with more mental and somatic symptoms (p < 0.001). Compared to proximity, media watching was, in general, a better association. For geographical factors, watching more than three hours of media indicated equally high scores for mental symptoms and somatic symptoms as work proximity (p = 0.015) and overall proximity to the attacks (p = 0.024). Conclusion: Media-watching is associated with acute health reactions after terrorist attacks. However, the direction of the relationship is unclear, as it might also be that people with health issues seek out more media.
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Aims Given the risk of developing vicarious trauma through news media has increased during the pandemic, we explored risk factors associated with media induced secondary trauma, and its behavioral and psychological implications. Methods An international study ( N = 1066), with a diverse sample, was administered in July 2020. We used standardized and validated questionnaires to measure news consumption, media-related trauma, compliance, and paranoia. Results Greater frequency of news consumption, accessing news via social media and WHO, and believing in conspiracy theories increased likelihood of developing media-induced secondary trauma. News related trauma was associated with greater compliance with safety measures and increased paranoid ideation. Media-trauma however exhibited a greater association with paranoia than compliance. Conclusion Findings highlight the need to facilitate a collaborative intervention, with public, media houses, health safety officials, and social scientists to have a deeper understanding of potential psychological costs of news consumption patterns.
Article
Terrorism is a global problem with huge negative consequences. The negative psychological impact of terrorist attacks can also affect those who indirectly experienced the event, through media coverage. A correlational study was conducted on 429 Italian respondents exposed to media coverage of terrorist attacks in Brussels, Europe. Attitude towards three features of news presentation, namely emotional emphasis, threat for national security, and the unpredictable character of the attacks, as well as fear of new attacks and change in everyday behaviors were measured. Results showed that emotional emphasis and threat for national security – but not the unpredictable character of attacks – perceived in media are significantly associated with fear of new attacks. Moreover, fear of future attacks mediated the effects of both emotional emphasis and the threat for national security on change in everyday behaviors. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.
Chapter
Since its introduction as a new psychiatric diagnosis in the third edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-III) in 1980, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has never been without controversy. The debates have raged over the fundamental conceptualization of the disorder, how it is defined, its causes, and the optimal way it is treated. This chapter reviews these major controversies in PTSD. At the current time, there is no definitive solution to many of the questions raised in the debates. Rather than trying to provide answers to the questions raised by the debates, this chapter attempts to delineate the controversial issues and shed light on the key issues that need to be considered if a critical understanding is to be achieved of the complex issues involved in PTSD. The underlying position of this chapter is that a better science of PTSD is one that is critical of each of the debated topics and attempts to identify the weaknesses of proposals that are not adequately substantiated.
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How do traumatic experiences shape individuals’ political behavior? Political scientists have investigated the behavioral changes caused by natural disasters and terrorist attacks, but no work to date has investigated the political consequences of such events using the framework of psychological trauma. In this study, I develop a theory of posttraumatic political response that explains how traumatic events influence voter turnout. To test this theory, I identify the effects of three different types of traumatic events: Black church arson attacks, mass shootings, and natural disasters. I find that a traumatic event decreases turnout in the next presidential election by 0.5–3.7 percentage points, but Black social identity conditions this effect—church arsons and Hurricane Katrina mobilize Black voters. Finally, I find that closer temporal proximity to an election increases the likelihood of a mobilizing effect.
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Background: The scope of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, was unprecedented in the United States. We assessed the prevalence and correlates of acute post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression among residents of Manhattan five to eight weeks after the attacks. Methods: We used random-digit dialing to contact a representative sample of adults living south of 110th Street in Manhattan. Participants were asked about demographic characteristics, exposure to the events of September 11, and psychological symptoms after the attacks. Results: Among 1008 adults interviewed, 7.5 percent reported symptoms consistent with a diagnosis of current PTSD related to the attacks, and 9.7 percent reported symptoms consistent with current depression (with "current" defined as occurring within the previous 30 days). Among respondents who lived south of Canal Street (i.e., near the World Trade Center), the prevalence of PTSD was 20.0 percent. Predictors of PTSD in a multivariate model were Hispanic ethnicity, two or more prior stressors, a panic attack during or shortly after the events, residence south of Canal Street, and loss of possessions due to the events. Predictors of depression were Hispanic ethnicity, two or more prior stressors, a panic attack, a low level of social support, the death of a friend or relative during the attacks, and loss of a job due to the attacks. Conclusions: There was a substantial burden of acute PTSD and depression in Manhattan after the September 11 attacks. Experiences involving exposure to the attacks were predictors of current PTSD, and losses as a result of the events were predictors of current depression. In the aftermath of terrorist attacks, there may be substantial psychological morbidity in the population.
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Conference Paper
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