Sympathy towards people infected with COVID-19 mediates relations between media use and death anxiety.

Miao Chao, Jie Liu, Dini Xue, Bin Zhang, Brian J Hall

Abstract read

In one paragraph

Article in Frontiers in psychiatry, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

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0cells of the map it votes in

0citing papers in PubMed

–field-weighted citation impact

1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

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.

2 · The registry

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3 · Its place in the literature

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0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

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PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors.

Miao ChaoKey Research Base of Humanities and Social Sciences of the Ministry of Education, Academy of Psychology and Behavior, Tianjin Normal University, Tianjin, China.

Jie LiuKey Research Base of Humanities and Social Sciences of the Ministry of Education, Academy of Psychology and Behavior, Tianjin Normal University, Tianjin, China.

Dini XueKey Research Base of Humanities and Social Sciences of the Ministry of Education, Academy of Psychology and Behavior, Tianjin Normal University, Tianjin, China.

Bin ZhangKey Research Base of Humanities and Social Sciences of the Ministry of Education, Academy of Psychology and Behavior, Tianjin Normal University, Tianjin, China.

Brian J HallSchool of Global Public Health, New York University Shanghai, Shanghai, China.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic threatened mental health. This study examined the longitudinal associations among pandemic-related media use, sympathy for people infected with COVID-19 (PIWC), and death anxiety. 132 Chinese adults completed measures three times, one week apart during the initial phase of COVID. The results showed that media use, sympathy, and death anxiety decreased significantly over the first month of the outbreak. Pandemic-related media use predicted increased future sympathy for PIWC, and sympathy predicted increased future death anxiety. The study identified the short-term effects of media use on sympathy and death anxiety, and suggests that reduced media exposure may be beneficial.

Indexed as

COVID-19death anxietylongitudinalmedia usesympathy

Identifiers

PMID40264518

DOI10.3389/fpsyt.2025.1570747

PMCPMC12011839

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.