Wu Lanting, Li Xiaobao, Lyu Hochao
Faculty of Psychology, Southwest University, Chongqing, China.
Time Psychology Research Center, Southwest University, Chongqing, China.
Front Psychol. 2021 Feb 11;12:564284. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.564284. eCollection 2021.
Since the outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in China, people have been exposed to a flood of media news related to the pandemic every day. Studies have shown that media news about public crisis events have a significant impact on individuals' depression. However, how and when the duration of attention to pandemic news predicts depression still remains an open question. This study established a moderated mediating model to investigate the relationship between the duration of attention to pandemic news and depression, the mediating effect of risk perception, and the moderating effect of future time perspective on the relationship. In early February 2020, 701 individuals from 29 provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities across China were asked to self-report their duration of attention to pandemic news, level of depression, risk perception, and future time perspective during the COVID-19 outbreak. Results show that there is a significant positive correlation between the duration of attention to news on COVID-19 and depression; risk perception mediates the association between the duration of attention to pandemic news and depression; and future time perspective plays a moderating role between risk perception and depression. The findings of the present study provide theoretical implications and practically throw some light on alleviating the public's depression during pandemic periods. We highlight that the individual's hope for a better future, focusing on positive news, and time perspective balance during an epidemic disease are also beneficial to promoting positive emotion and reducing depression.
自2019年冠状病毒病（COVID-19）在中国爆发以来，人们每天都接触到大量与该疫情相关的媒体新闻。研究表明，关于公共危机事件的媒体新闻对个体的抑郁有显著影响。然而，关注疫情新闻的时长如何以及何时会预测抑郁，仍是一个悬而未决的问题。本研究建立了一个有调节的中介模型，以探讨关注疫情新闻的时长与抑郁之间的关系、风险认知的中介作用以及未来时间观对该关系的调节作用。2020年2月初，来自中国29个省、自治区和直辖市的701名个体被要求自报在COVID-19疫情爆发期间他们关注疫情新闻的时长、抑郁水平、风险认知和未来时间观。结果表明，关注COVID-19新闻的时长与抑郁之间存在显著正相关；风险认知在关注疫情新闻的时长与抑郁之间起中介作用；未来时间观在风险认知与抑郁之间起调节作用。本研究的结果提供了理论启示，并在实际层面为缓解疫情期间公众的抑郁提供了一些思路。我们强调，个体对美好未来的希望、关注积极新闻以及在流行病期间保持时间观平衡，也有利于促进积极情绪并减少抑郁。
