When war sneaks in through the window: Media exposure and trauma during ongoing crises

Indirect exposure to traumatic events through media has increasingly been linked to trauma-related symptoms, yet little is known about how these effects unfold dynamically during prolonged crises. This 6-week longitudinal study examined the temporal and bidirectional associations between war-related media exposure, subjective media appraisal, and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms during the 2025 Israel-Hamas hostage deal.

A sample of 389 Israeli adults completed weekly assessments of PTSD symptoms, use of traditional and social media for war-related content, and perceptions of media exposure. Multilevel models disentangled within-person and between-person effects, and time-lagged analyses tested reciprocal associations over time.

Higher levels of weekly media exposure were associated with increased PTSD symptoms across both traditional and social media, with largely comparable effect sizes. Subjective appraisal emerged as a central mechanism: Perceiving media exposure as stressful was robustly associated with higher PTSD symptoms at both within- and between-person levels, whereas perceiving media as supportive was modestly associated with lower symptom levels at the between-person level only. Time-lagged analyses revealed reciprocal effects between perceived media-related stress and PTSD symptoms, suggesting that distress and media experience mutually reinforce one another over time. Age moderated these associations, with younger adults exhibiting stronger covariation between distressing media appraisals and PTSD.

Overall, the findings indicate that during prolonged, emotionally salient crises, the psychological impact of media exposure is shaped less by media type than by the emotional meaning attributed to media content, highlighting the importance of subjective appraisal and temporal dynamics in models of media-related indirect trauma. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).