Exploring the impact of media use on wellbeing following a natural disaster

Abstract

Media use can be beneficial in many ways, but little is known about how it might improve wellbeing outcomes following a traumatic natural disaster. Survivors (n = 491) of deadly Hurricane Michael, which struck the Florida (USA) coastline in 2018, completed an online survey, reporting indicators of post-traumatic growth (PTG) and stress (PTSS). A serial mediation model explored how hurricane-related stressors were related to both outcomes, as mediated by approach, avoidant, and support-seeking coping strategies and post-hurricane hedonic, eudaimonic, and self-transcendent media use as coping tools. Factors contributing to each type of post-hurricane media use were also explored. Results indicate that hurricane-related stressors were associated with PTG, serially mediated through approach coping strategies and self-transcendent media use, thus providing some of the first empirical evidence of the longer-term, beneficial wellbeing effects of media use on survivors of trauma. Additionally, hurricane-related stressors were associated with avoidant coping strategies, which were associated with increased eudaimonic media use. However, hedonic and eudaimonic media use were not associated with PTSS or PTG. Finally, factors known to be associated with media use were not predictive of post-hurricane media use, perhaps suggesting that media play a different role in survivors' lives in the months following a traumatic event.

Why do People Engage with the Suffering of Strangers? Exploring Epistemic, Eudaimonic, Social, and Affective Motives

“…In contrast to hedonia, which revolves around the experience of pleasure, eudaimonia refers to seeking out virtuous and meaningful experiences to pursue a life well lived (Gentzler et al, 2021). Art and entertainment portraying tragedy and suffering can promote in the observer a sense or reflection, insight, and cognitive challenge (Raney et al, 2022), and may create an opportunity to experience intense emotions from a safe distance (Menninghaus et al, 2017). In short, this literature highlights that observing and engaging with (artistic) expressions of suffering is a way of finding meaning and developing the self.…”