Trial reportInternational journal of environmental research and public health2023
How COVID-19 News Affect Older Adults' Mental Health-Evidence of a Positivity Bias.
Trial report in International journal of environmental research and public health, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
5 citing papers in PubMed, 16 citations in OpenAlex.
- The Impact of Pet Videos on Emotional Face Processing.European journal of investigation in health, psychology and education · 2026Article
- Analyzing Themes, Sentiments, and Coping Strategies Regarding Online News Coverage of Depression in Hong Kong: Mixed Methods Study.Journal of medical Internet research · 2025Article
- Perceptions of COVID-19-related nudges in the Arab world: A cross-country analysis of approval rates and associated factors.PLOS global public health · 2025Article
- Anxiety symptoms and coping strategies used by older adults during COVID-19: A national e-study of linkages among and between them.PLOS mental health · 2025Article
- More organized white matter is associated with positivity bias in older adults.Brain imaging and behavior · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundMedia affects the trajectory of many individuals' mental health-with media news, individuals experience negative bias more than positive bias. However, there is also evidence of an age-related positivity effect, with negativity bias generally fading with age. With the rise of COVID-19 cases, older adults (aged 55 years and older) who consume media frequently are at a high risk for declining mental health. To date, there has been no research on the positivity vs. negativity bias of media news on older adults. Here, we investigated whether positivity or negativity bias plays a larger role in affecting how older adults react to COVID-19 news.
methodsSixty-nine older adults (aged 55-95) answered questions about their weekly media consumption and how closely they followed news relating to COVID-19. They also completed a general health questionnaire. They were then randomly assigned to read either positive or negative COVID-19 news (
resultsAn analysis revealed that the more often older adults consumed media and the more closely they followed COVID-19 news, the more they felt unhappy and depressed. Importantly, older adults who read positive news reported stronger responses than those who read negative news. Older adults appeared to have a strong positivity bias for COVID-19 news, reporting feeling happy and wanting to read about positive news. In contrast, negative COVID-19 news did not evoke similar levels of response from the older adults.
conclusionsMedia consumption of COVID-19 news does negatively impact the mental well-being of older adults, but older adults appear to have a strong positivity bias and a lack of negativity bias for COVID-19 news. These findings suggest that older adults can remain hopeful and positive during periods of public health crises and intense stress, which is essential to sustaining their mental well-being during difficult times.
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Registered trials
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