TY  - JOUR
AU  - Rivest-Beauregard, Marjolaine
AU  - Fortin, Justine
AU  - Guo, Connie
AU  - Cipolletta, Sabrina
AU  - Sapkota, Ram P
AU  - Lonergan, Michelle
AU  - Brunet, Alain
PY  - 2022
DA  - 2022/6/7
TI  - Media Use During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Cross-sectional Study
JO  - J Med Internet Res
SP  - e33011
VL  - 24
IS  - 6
KW  - media use
KW  - support
KW  - information-seeking behaviors
KW  - trauma- and stressor-related symptoms
KW  - COVID-19
KW  - media
KW  - information-seeking
KW  - behavior
KW  - trauma
KW  - stress
KW  - symptom
KW  - frequency
KW  - risk
KW  - distress
AB  - Background: Throughout the pandemic, the general population was encouraged to use media to be kept informed about sanitary measures while staying connected with others to obtain social support. However, due to mixed findings in the literature, it is not clear whether media use in such a context would be pathogenic or salutogenic. Objective: Therefore, the associations between COVID-19–related stressors and frequency of media use for information-seeking on trauma- and stressor-related (TSR) symptoms were examined while also investigating how social media use for support-seeking and peritraumatic distress interact with those variables. Methods: A path model was tested in a sample of 5913 adults who completed an online survey. Results: The number of COVID-19–related stressors (β=.25; P<.001) and extent of information-seeking through media (β=.24; P=.006) were significantly associated with the severity of TSR symptoms in bivariate comparisons. Associations between levels of peritraumatic distress and both COVID-19–related stressors and information-seeking through media, and social media use for support- and information-seeking through media were found (βCOVID-19 stressors: Peritraumatic Distress Inventory=.49, P<.001; βseeking information: Peritraumatic Distress Inventory=.70, P<.001; βseeking information–seeking support=.04, P<.001). Conclusions: Results suggest that exposure to COVID-19–related stressors and seeking COVID-19–related information through the media are associated with higher levels of peritraumatic distress that, in turn, lead to higher levels of TSR symptoms. Although exposure to the stress of the COVID-19 pandemic may be unavoidable, the frequency of COVID-19–related information consumption through various media should be approached with caution. 
SN  - 1438-8871
UR  - https://www.jmir.org/2022/6/e33011
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2196/33011
UR  - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/3553703
DO  - 10.2196/33011
ID  - info:doi/10.2196/33011
ER  -