Department of Psychology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 603 E Daniel St, Champaign, IL 62810, United States.
The Annenberg Public Policy Center, University of Pennsylvania, 202 S 36th St, Philadelphia, PA 19104, United States.
Soc Sci Med. 2018 Sep;212:50-59. doi: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2018.07.007. Epub 2018 Jul 5.
Both legacy media, such as television and newspapers, and online social media are potentially important but incompletely understood sources of information in the face of emerging public health risks. This research aimed to understand media effects on risk perceptions and behaviors concerning the Zika virus in the United States.
We analyzed a multi-wave nationally representative survey (N = 29,062) and the volume of communications in social and legacy media (i.e., legacy media data from news sources and databases, N = 2,660 and social media data from Twitter, N = 1,605,752) in the United States between April and October 2016, dates coinciding with the early cases of local transmission of Zika in the United States (i.e., 25 weeks). The present study conducted econometric analyses (i.e., Granger causality tests) to assess the associations of legacy and social media coverage with risk perceptions and protective behaviors in the total sample and specific groups separated by pregnancy status/intent, geographic region, income, education level, age, and ethnicity.
The results from the overall sample suggested that changes in the volume of information in legacy and social media (i.e., Twitter) were followed by different changes in community risk perceptions and protective behaviors. Specifically, social media coverage correlated with the level of risk perceptions, whereas the legacy media coverage correlated with the level of protective behaviors. Analyses across different subpopulations, including those of different pregnancy status/intent, geographic Zika risk, income, education level, age, and ethnicity, replicated the social media associations with risk perceptions in most cases. However, legacy media and protective behaviors were linked only in some vulnerable subpopulations (e.g., the less-educated populations).
Understanding how media coverage relates to Zika risk perceptions and protective behaviors will help to facilitate effective risk communications by healthcare professionals and providers, particularly when a health risk emerges.
传统媒体（如电视和报纸）和在线社交媒体都是潜在的重要信息来源，但人们对其了解不够，尤其是在面临新出现的公共卫生风险时。本研究旨在了解媒体对美国寨卡病毒风险认知和行为的影响。
我们分析了一项多波全国代表性调查（N=29062）以及美国 2016 年 4 月至 10 月期间（即美国首例本地传播寨卡病毒的 25 周内）社交媒体（来自 Twitter 的数据，N=1605752）和传统媒体（来自新闻来源和数据库的数据，N=2660）的通讯量。本研究采用计量经济学分析（即格兰杰因果检验），评估传统媒体和社交媒体报道与总样本和按妊娠状况/意图、地理位置、收入、教育水平、年龄和种族划分的特定群体的风险认知和保护行为之间的关联。
总样本的结果表明，传统媒体和社交媒体（即 Twitter）信息数量的变化后，社区风险认知和保护行为会发生不同的变化。具体而言，社交媒体报道与风险认知水平相关，而传统媒体报道与保护行为水平相关。在不同的亚群体（包括不同妊娠状况/意图、地理寨卡风险、收入、教育水平、年龄和种族的亚群体）的分析中，除了在一些脆弱的亚群体（如受教育程度较低的人群）中，社交媒体与风险认知之间的关联仅在某些脆弱的亚群体中复制。
了解媒体报道与寨卡风险认知和保护行为之间的关系将有助于医疗保健专业人员和提供者进行有效的风险沟通，尤其是在出现健康风险时。
