People worldwide are confronted with environmental and sociopolitical stressors that act as potent sources of subjective uncertainty. The uncertainty arising in response to the volatility and unpredictability of adversities is amplified by their representation or misrepresentation in media news. While the causal effect of media news on vicarious traumatization has been well established, we argue that the impact of negative media news is principally related to distress and anxiety stemming from the uncertainty-inducing effect of media representations of the state of the world. As a growing body of research suggests, minimizing uncertainty related to global stressors is a significant driver of media news use. However, extensive media exposure perpetuates stress and is associated with symptoms of psychopathology. The self-perpetuating vicious circle of worry and excessive media consumption has been amply confirmed by new research related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Furthermore, attempts to alleviate stress and anxiety stemming from uncertainties often result in maladaptive strategies. In particular, the adoption of rigid behavioral patterns may prompt various forms of socially detrimental behavior. Critical factors in prevention and remediation include limiting media overexposure and implementing therapeutic interventions that focus on increasing tolerance to uncertainty.

• Keywords
• anxiety, cognitive psychology, media news, social context, stress, uncertainty,
• MeSH
• COVID-19 psychology   MeSH
• Mental Health * MeSH
• Mass Media * MeSH
• Humans MeSH
• Uncertainty MeSH
• Stress, Psychological * psychology   etiology   MeSH
• Anxiety psychology   etiology   MeSH
• Check Tag
• Humans MeSH
• Publication type
• Journal Article MeSH

BACKGROUND: COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy (CVH) has become a critical public health issue, with attitudes toward vaccines emerging as a broader social issue. Public debates surrounding vaccines have expanded beyond health considerations to include issues of trust, misinformation, and societal values, making CVH a complex challenge that requires multifaceted solutions. Analyzing the various determinants of CVH is crucial for developing targeted strategies to improve vaccine acceptance in specific countries and to better prepare for future public health crises. However, no study to date has evaluated the determinants of CVH in a representative sample of the Czech population. METHODS: A multiple hierarchical logistic regression was used to analyze the associations between various sociodemographic, trust and attitudinal factors with COVID-19 vaccine acceptance (CVA). The analysis utilized survey data from a representative longitudinal sample of the Czech population (N = 1,407). RESULTS: After controlling for all other factors, trust in official statements from the Ministry of Health was the strongest predictor of CVA, followed by prior positive attitudes toward COVID-19 vaccination (prior to vaccine availability) and older age. Lower trust in COVID-19 misinformation also predicted CVA, while lower interest in COVID-19 media content was associated with CVA. Higher income initially predicted CVA but lost statistical significance after controlling for other variables. Interestingly, education did not play a role in CVA. CONCLUSION: CVH was primarily driven by distrust in government-provided information. Notably, vaccine refusers demonstrated a higher motivation to seek information on the topic, offering a promising opportunity for health policy interventions. Our findings suggest that strategies to reduce CVH should prioritize building trust in state institutions and effectively combating misinformation.

• Keywords
• COVID-19, Misinformation, Trust in institutions, Vaccine acceptance, Vaccine hesitancy,
• MeSH
• COVID-19 * prevention & control   MeSH
• Adult MeSH
• Trust * psychology   MeSH
• Middle Aged MeSH
• Humans MeSH
• Longitudinal Studies MeSH
• Adolescent MeSH
• Young Adult MeSH
• Vaccination Hesitancy * psychology   statistics & numerical data   MeSH
• Patient Acceptance of Health Care * psychology   MeSH
• Surveys and Questionnaires MeSH
• Aged MeSH
• COVID-19 Vaccines * administration & dosage   MeSH
• Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice MeSH
• Check Tag
• Adult MeSH
• Middle Aged MeSH
• Humans MeSH
• Adolescent MeSH
• Young Adult MeSH
• Male MeSH
• Aged MeSH
• Female MeSH
• Publication type
• Journal Article MeSH
• Geographicals
• Czech Republic MeSH
• Names of Substances
• COVID-19 Vaccines * MeSH

BACKGROUND: Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Czech population experienced a second lockdown lasting for about half a year, restricting free movement and imposing social isolation. However, it is not known whether the impact of this long lockdown resulted in habituation to the adverse situation or in the traumatization of the Czech population, and whether the media and specific media use contributed to these effects. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to elucidate the effect of the long lockdown on the mental health of the Czech population, and the role of exposure to COVID-19 news reports and specific forms of media news use in mental health. METHODS: We conducted two consecutive surveys in the early (November 2020) and late (March/April 2021) phases of the nationwide lockdown on the same nationally representative group of Czech adults (N=1777) participating in a longitudinal panel study. RESULTS: Our findings showed that the self-reported symptoms of anxiety and depression increased in the second observation period, confirming the negative effect of the pandemic lockdown as it unfolded, suggesting that restrictive measures and continuous exposure to a collective stressor did not result in the strengthening of resilience but rather in ongoing traumatization. The results also suggest a negative role of the media's coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic in mental health during the early, and particularly late, phases of the lockdown. Furthermore, we found several risk and protective factors of specific media news use. The media practice in news consumption connected to social media use was the strongest predictor of exacerbated mental health symptoms, particularly in the late phase of the lockdown. Moreover, news media use characterized by internalization of information learned from the news, as well as negative attitudes toward media news, were associated with higher levels of anxiety and depression. Conversely, the use of infotainment, together with an in-depth and contextual style of reading news articles, were related to improvement of mental health. CONCLUSIONS: Our study showed that the long lockdown resulted in traumatization rather than habituation, and in more pronounced effects (both negative and positive) of media use in mental health.

• Keywords
• COVID-19, anxiety, depression, lockdown, longitudinal study, media news, media use, mental health, mental stress, nationally representative data, pandemic, psychological trauma, social isolation, social media, survey,
• Publication type
• Journal Article MeSH