Latin American perceptions of fear and exaggeration transmitted by the media with regard to COVID-19: frequency and association with severe mental pathologies

Frontiers in Psychology

Psychology

Martín A. Vilela-Estrada¹  Victor Serna-Alarcón¹  David Alfonso Ibarra-Montenegro²  Dennis Arias-Chávez³  Verónica Alejandra Alejandra Castro Hidalgo⁴  Jhino Valeriano⁵  Telmo Raul Aveiro-Róbalo⁶  Luciana Daniela Garlisi Torales⁶  Christian R. Mejia⁷  Yuliana Canaviri-Murillo⁸  Aram Conde-Escobar⁸  Fernanda Sánchez-Soto⁸  María Oliva-Ponce⁸ 

[1] Escuela de Medicina Humana, Universidad Privada Antenor Orrego, Trujillo, Peru;Faculty of Medicine, Universidad Autónoma de Chiriquí, David, Chiriqui, Panama;Faculty of Medicine, Universidad Continental, Arequipa, Peru;Faculty of Medicine, Universidad Hispanoamercana, San José, Costa Rica;Faculty of Medicine, Universidad Nacional del Altiplano, Puno, Peru;Faculty of Medicine, Universidad del Pacífico, Asunción, Paraguay;Federación Latinoamericana de Sociedades Científicas de Estudiantes de Medicina (FELSOCEM), Asunción, Paraguay;Translational Medicine Research Centre, Universidad Norbert Wiener, Lima, Peru;Universidad Privada de Tacna, Centro de Investigación de Estudiantes de Medicina (CIESMED), Tacna, Peru;

关键词: media;    fear;    pandemic;    COVID-19;    mental health;    Latin America;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1037450

 received in 2022-09-05, accepted in 2023-04-05,  发布年份 2023

来源: Frontiers

【 摘 要 】

IntroductionThe COVID-19 pandemic contributed to the spread of abundant misinformation by the media, which caused fear and concern.ObjectiveTo determine the association between the pathologies of the mental sphere and the perceptions of fear and exaggeration transmitted by the media with respect to COVID-19 in Latin America.MethodologyThe present study has an analytical cross-sectional design that is based on a validated survey to measure fear and exaggeration transmitted by the media and other sources (Cronbach's α: 0.90). We surveyed more than 6,000 people, originally from 12 Latin American countries, who associated this perceived exaggeration with stress, depression, and anxiety (measured through DASS-21, Cronbach's α: 0.96).ResultsSocial networks (40%) or television (34%) were perceived as the sources that exaggerate the magnitude of the events. In addition, television (35%) and social networks (28%) were perceived as the sources that generate much fear. On the contrary, physicians and health personnel are the sources that exaggerated less (10%) or provoked less fear (14%). Through a multivariate model, we found a higher level of global perception that was associated with whether the participant was older (p = 0.002), had severe or more serious anxiety (p = 0.033), or had stress (p = 0,037). However, in comparison with Peru (the most affected country), there was a lower level of perception in Chile (p < 0.001), Paraguay (p = 0.001), Mexico (p < 0.001), Ecuador (p = 0.001), and Costa Rica (p = 0.042). All of them were adjusted for gender and for those having severe or major depression.ConclusionThere exists an association between some mental pathologies and the perception that the media does not provide moderate information.

【 授权许可】

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Copyright © 2023 Mejia, Aveiro-Róbalo, Garlisi Torales, Castro Hidalgo, Valeriano, Ibarra-Montenegro, Conde-Escobar, Sánchez-Soto, Canaviri-Murillo, Oliva-Ponce, Serna-Alarcón, Vilela-Estrada and Arias-Chávez.