Measuring media exposure to acute mass violence

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Media Studies
• Public Health

Background:

• Media exposure to acute mass violence impacts populations indirectly.
• Existing measures of media exposure lack consensus and do not account for social media.
• The media landscape has rapidly evolved with the rise of social media.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate a new measure of media exposure to acute mass violence.
• To incorporate social media use into the measurement of media exposure.
• To assess the reliability and validity of the new measure across different demographics.

Main Methods:

• Survey administered to 1,249 youth and adults (ages 14-59).
• Assessed general news consumption, specific terror attack coverage viewing time, and emotional reactions.
• Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and measurement invariance testing were performed.

Main Results:

• The developed 3-factor model demonstrated good data fit in CFA.
• Measurement invariance confirmed the model's consistency across participant sex.
• The measure's factor structure was consistent between male and female participants.

Conclusions:

• The new measure effectively assesses media exposure to acute mass violence.
• Findings support the measure's reliability and validity for use in diverse populations.
• This tool aids in understanding the psychological impact of media coverage of traumatic events.