Evaluation of preparatory measures for coping with anxiety raised by media coverage of terrorism.

Abstract

This study examines effects of television broadcasts of terrorism on viewers' anxiety and raises suggestions for 2 intervention strategies to moderate elevated anxiety. Participants were 120 young Israeli adults randomly allocated to a terrorism or a nonterrorism television broadcast and assigned to 1 of 3 intervention conditions prior to exposure-cognitive based, emotional based, or none. Anxiety was measured explicitly and projectively prior and subsequent to manipulation. Results showed greater posttest anxiety in terrorism versus nonterrorism groups. In the terrorism group, therapeutic interventions led to lower posttest levels of explicit and projective anxiety than the control intervention, with advantage to the cognitive intervention on projective anxiety. In the nonterrorism group, the emotional intervention produced greater posttest anxiety on the explicit anxiety measure. Findings indicate noxious effects of television coverage of terrorism and suggest preparatory measures that maximize public coping.