Observational studyInternational journal of behavioral medicine2025
Viral Transmission? A Longitudinal Study of Media Use and Its Relation to Mental Strain During the First 2 Years of the COVID-19 Pandemic.
Observational study in International journal of behavioral medicine, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT04331106 (Online-based Survey of the Anxiety Associated With the COVID-19 Pandemic in the General Population in Germany), which is not on this map. Cited by 1 paper.
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.
Online-based Survey of the Anxiety Associated With the COVID-19 Pandemic in the General Population in Germany
Who cites it
1 citing paper in PubMed.
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.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundIn light of the dynamic COVID-19 pandemic, the exposure to pandemic-related media coverage may change over time and may be particularly relevant due to associations with psychopathological symptoms. The aims of the present study were to examine changes in media consumption over time and to analyze its prospective associations with psychological strain.
methodThe study uses a longitudinal observational design with ten periods of online data collection from March 2020 to April 2022 in an adult convenience sample (N = 8337) of the general population in Germany.
resultsOur data revealed that the frequency and duration of pandemic-related media exposure as well as their subjective critical evaluation showed the highest levels at the beginning of the pandemic and peaked again in autumn 2020 and spring 2021. The primarily used media formats changed only slightly over time. The amount of media exposure at baseline was associated with more impairing pandemic-related anxiety 1 month, 1 year, and 2 years later.
conclusionOur results hint to potentially problematical and long-lasting associations of pandemic-related media consumption with mental strain. Our findings could serve as an orientation for recommendations, further research, and adequate interventions for a responsible dealing with media coverage.
trial registrationThe authors have pre-registered this research at clinicaltrials.gov without an analysis plan; retrievable at: https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04331106 .
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