What if Victims Read a Newspaper Report About Their Victimization?

Abstract

Trauma victims are often a focus of media attention. However, little is known about the psychological effects that media coverage of their cases can have on the victims themselves. Two contradictory hypotheses exist: One is that media reports lead to retraumatization of victims and may impede recovery, the other that media reports provide social recognition for victims and, thus, constitute a positive form of support that may facilitate recovery. We used a longitudinal group comparison design, and assessed a sample of crime victims at around 5 and 11 months after trauma. Participants were crime victims recruited through a legal aid organization. Data were gathered by checklists and standardized self-reports. Forty-seven percent of the participants had read, listened to or watched at least one media report on their case. Of these, almost two thirds stated that the reports were more or less accurate. Nonetheless, the dominant psychological reaction to the reports was negative (sad 66%, frightened 48%), and few participants expressed positive reactions. Reactions were significantly more negative when the content of the report was not considered to be accurate. Some evidence was found for the theoretical assumption of retraumatization by media reports: There was a moderate correlation (r = 0.48) between negative reaction to the trauma reports and the level of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms at baseline assessment. Coverage in a media report did not predict PTSD symptoms at follow-up. In conclusion, the association between the level of PTSD symptoms and negative psychological reactions to media coverage indicates that media representatives should take particular care when dealing with the most strongly traumatized survivors.