COVID-19 and the 24/7 News Cycle: Does COVID-19 News Exposure Affect Mental Health?

Abstract

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has upended nearly every aspect of social life in the United States and abroad. People turn to news to provide public health updates about the virus, such as reports of new cases and deaths, but also to understand how COVID-19 is affecting jobs and the economy. The news, irrespective of its format, serves as a central conduit of information during the pandemic. Prior research examining public traumas, such as terrorist attacks, suggests that greater media intake may also amplify perceived threats about the virus and therefore have a negative effect on mental health. We argue that in the absence of a solution to the virus, such as a vaccine, greater COVID-19 media viewing is likely to heighten uncertainty and anxiousness about the future threat the virus poses to health and well-being, which should in turn increase psychological distress. Drawing on a unique data set of U.S. residents in mid- to late March 2020, the authors examine the relationships among COVID-19 news consumption, perceptions of COVID-19 threats to health and economic well-being, and psychological distress. The findings suggest that greater COVID-19 media consumption is associated with greater psychological distress and that approximately two thirds of this effect operates indirectly through increased perceptions of COVID-19 threats.