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The Effect of Health-Related Media Messages on Fear and Uncertainty about the COVID-19 Pandemic

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 September 2024

Ayşe Çal Open the ORCID record for Ayşe Çal [Opens in a new window] ,
Mukerrem Kabataş Yıldız  and
İlknur Aydın Avci Open the ORCID record for İlknur Aydın Avci [Opens in a new window]
Ayşe Çal*
Affiliation:
Ankara Medipol University, School of Health Sciences, Ankara, Turkey
Mukerrem Kabataş Yıldız
Affiliation:
Ondokuz Mayıs University, Health Services Vocational School, Samsun, Turkey
İlknur Aydın Avci
Affiliation:
Ondokuz Mayıs University, Faculty of Health Sciences, Samsun, Turkey
*
Corresponding author: Ayşe Çal; Email: [email protected]
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Abstract

Objective

This study was conducted to investigate individuals’ perceptions of media messages about the COVID-19 pandemic and the effect of these messages on their fear and uncertainty.

Methods

Data for this descriptive correlational study were collected between October and November 2020. A total of 653 individuals living in Turkey provided online survey data by completing a Personal Information Form, the Pandemic Uncertainty Scale, and the COVID-19 Pandemic Fear Scale.

Results

The mean age of the participants was 52.1 ± 12.6, and 79.9% were female. It was found that 27.9% of participants “always” followed COVID-19 news in the media, and 41.3% “often” followed COVID-19-related news. Participants’ COVID-19 fear (24.46 ± 8.07) and uncertainty (55.35 ± 8.63) scores were moderate and correlated.

Conclusions

Level of trust in mass media was found to affect uncertainty about the pandemic. As level of trust in mass media increased, uncertainty about the pandemic decreased. Appropriate measures must be identified and adopted for effective and safe media use in situations posing massive and significant health threats such as COVID-19.

Keywords

COVID-19fearmedia messagesuncertaintypandemic
Type
Original Research
Information
Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness , Volume 18 , 2024 , e129
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2024. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Society for Disaster Medicine and Public Health, Inc

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