Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40813430›Full record

ArticleScientific reports2025

Exposure to online hate speech is positively associated with post-traumatic stress disorder symptom severity.

Dvora Shmulewitz, Maor Daniel Levitin, Vera Skvirsky, Merav Vider, Shaul Lev-Ran, Mario Mikulincer

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Scientific reports, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
–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

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.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

2 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

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

6 authors.

Dvora ShmulewitzDepartment of Psychology and Israel Center for Addiction and Mental Health, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel.
Maor Daniel LevitinDepartment of Psychology and Israel Center for Addiction and Mental Health, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel.
Vera SkvirskyDepartment of Psychology and Israel Center for Addiction and Mental Health, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel.
Merav ViderDepartment of Psychology and Israel Center for Addiction and Mental Health, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel.
Shaul Lev-RanIsrael Center on Addiction, 2 HaTzoran Street, Netanya, Israel.
Mario MikulincerDepartment of Psychology and Israel Center for Addiction and Mental Health, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel. mario.mikulincer1@mail.huji.ac.il.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after traumatic events is prevalent and can lead to negative consequences. While social media use has been associated with PTSD, little is known about the specific association of online hate speech on social media networks and PTSD, and whether such association is stronger among those with difficulties in emotion regulation, who may have a harder time coping with hate speech. In a general population sample of Jewish adults (aged 18-70) in Israel (N = 3,998), assessed about two months after the wide-scale terror attacks of October 7, 2023, regression analysis was used to explore the association of online hate speech and self-reported PTSD symptomology. Difficulties in emotion regulation (DER) was explored as a moderator of the association. Greater frequency of hate speech was significantly associated with increased PTSD symptomology, adjusting for problematic use of technology, terror and war exposure, and prior mental health issues. The association differed significantly by DER; as difficulties increased, the association was stronger. Public health campaigns could educate about the potential harms of hate speech to help individuals make informed choices, and clinicians could discuss possible hate speech effects with patients more vulnerable to PTSD, for example, those with emotion dysregulation.

Indexed as

HateSocial MediaStress Disorders, Post-TraumaticAdolescentAdultAgedEmotional RegulationFemaleHumansIsraelMaleMiddle AgedSeverity of Illness IndexYoung AdultDifficulties in emotional regulationOnline hate speechProblematic social media usePTSDTrauma exposure

Identifiers

PMID40813430
PMCPMC12354774

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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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.