Abstract
The coronavirus pandemic has resulted in many journalists repeatedly covering stories related to human suffering. This study investigates whether these journalists experienced higher rates of psychological distress, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depressive symptoms than those who have been working during the pandemic yet covering stories other than COVID-19 and aims to identify what factors may protect journalists from developing trauma-related symptoms. We assessed journalists (n = 120) working during the COVID-19 pandemic using self-report measures. Journalists repeatedly covering COVID-19 stories had significantly higher psychological distress (η2 = 0.04) and PTSD symptoms (η2 = 0.08), but not depression, compared to journalists who did not report on COVID-19. Rumination and numbing in response to unwanted memories predicted PTSD symptoms (R2 = 0.53) and may be risk factors for PTSD in this population. Unhelpful resilience appraisals distinguished journalists who reported on COVID-19 and who developed distressing re-experiencing symptoms from those who similarly reported on distressing material and who did not develop symptoms. Targeting resilience appraisals may be helpful in reducing re-experiencing symptoms after trauma exposure.
Highlights
Journalists repeatedly covering COVID-19 stories had significantly higher psychological distress (η2 = 0.04) and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms (η2 = 0.08), but not depression, compared to journalists who did not report on COVID-19
This means they are highly susceptible to stressor-related psychopathology [2,3], and research demonstrates that journalists who repeatedly cover stories of human suffering do suffer higher rates of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression than the general population [2,4]
This is consistent with recent research that demonstrates high psychological distress among journalists working for international news organisations regularly reporting on COVD-19 [16] and consistent with previous research that shows repeated trauma exposure is a predictor for PTSD in journalists [4,17,18,19]
Summary
Journalists repeatedly covering COVID-19 stories had significantly higher psychological distress (η2 = 0.04) and PTSD symptoms (η2 = 0.08), but not depression, compared to journalists who did not report on COVID-19. Journalists frequently work to tight deadlines, investigating stories that cover a wide range of tragedies, which may involve putting themselves at risk [1]. This means they are highly susceptible to stressor-related psychopathology [2,3], and research demonstrates that journalists who repeatedly cover stories of human suffering do suffer higher rates of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression than the general population [2,4]. Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations
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