Open AccessSearching for Certainty During a Pandemic
Author(s) -
Ofir Negri,
Danny Horesh,
Ilanit Gordon,
Ilanit HassonOhayon
Publication year - 2022
Publication title -
the journal of nervous and mental disease
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.749
H-Index - 123
eISSN - 1539-736X
pISSN - 0022-3018
DOI - 10.1097/nmd.0000000000001518
Subject(s) - covid-19 , consumption (sociology) , media consumption , certainty , social media , psychology , pandemic , social psychology , point (geometry) , medicine , advertising , political science , sociology , business , social science , philosophy , disease , epistemology , outbreak , infectious disease (medical specialty) , law , geometry , mathematics , virology
The current study longitudinally examined the moderating effects of consuming different types of media ( i.e. , formal [news] and informal [social media, WhatsApp]) in the association among COVID-19-related worries, intolerance of uncertainty (IU), and posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSSs). Data were collected at two time points during July and September 2020, with approximately 60 days between measurements. Results showed that both COVID-19-related worries and IU were found to be positively associated with PTSSs. An interaction with formal media consumption was found, so that when one's formal media consumption was high, he or she were most vulnerable to the aforementioned effects on the development of PTSSs. Our findings point to the interactive effects of both COVID-19 worries and IU with media consumption on the development of PTSSs. Although media consumption might provide information during uncertainty, it may also intensify PTSSs during times of crisis. Implications and limitations are discussed.