Background: Exposure to natural disaster media coverage is associated with mental health problems, but its long-term impacts are still unclear. Also, no study has analysed the psychological impact of exposure to natural disaster media coverage among children who are generally sensitive to threatening events.Objective: We aimed to examine how television images of victims after the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake were associated with mental health among children and their parents.Methods: In 2012, questionnaires for sociodemographic factors were distributed to 2053 families. Parents who provided written consent were contacted in 2013 and invited to provide information on mental health problems (outcome) and retrospectively provide information on television watching at the time of the earthquake (exposure). We used data from 159 parents who completed the survey as the final sample. We used a dichotomous variable to evaluate exposure to media coverage. Multivariable regression was used to examine the association between exposure to television images of victims and mental health, adjusting for potential confounders. Bias-corrected and accelerated bootstrap confidence intervals (CIs) were used.Results: Exposure to television images of victims was significantly associated with worse psychopathology among children (β, 1.51; 95% CI, 0.07-2.96) and greater psychological distress among their parents (β, 1.49; 95% CI, 0.28-2.70). Child psychopathology and parental psychological distress were significantly correlated (r = 0.36, p < .001).Conclusions: Exposure to television images of disaster victims may produce long-term impacts on mental health among children and their parents. To reduce the likelihood of mental health problems associated with disasters, clinicians may recommend reducing exposure to television images of victims.
Antecedentes: La exposición a la cobertura en los medios de los desastres naturales se asocia a problemas de salud mental, pero sus impactos en el largo plazo todavía no están claros. Además, ningún estudio ha analizado el impacto psicológico de la exposición a la cobertura en los medios de desastres naturales en los niños, quienes son generalmente sensibles a eventos amenazantes.
Objetivo: Buscamos examinar cómo las imágenes en televisión de las víctimas luego del Gran Terremoto del este de Japón en 2011 se asociaron a la salud mental en los niños y sus padres.
Métodos: En 2012, se distribuyeron cuestionarios de factores sociodemográficos a 2.053 familias. Los padres que proveyeron consentimiento escrito fueron contactados en 2013 e invitados a proveer información de problemas de salud mental (resultado) y retrospectivamente proveer información sobre la observación de televisión al momento del terremoto (exposición). Utilizamos los datos de 159 padres que completaron la encuesta como la muestra final. Usamos una variable dicotómica para evaluar la exposición a la cobertura mediática. Se utilizó regresión multivariable para examinar la asociación entre la exposición a imágenes de víctimas en televisión y salud mental, ajustando por potenciales confundentes. Se usaron intervalos de confianza de arranque corregidos por sesgos y acelerados.
背景：暴露于自然灾害媒体报道与心理健康问题有关，但其长期影响仍不清楚。 此外，还没有研究分析过自然灾害媒体报道对于总体对威胁事件敏感的儿童的心理影响。
目的：我们旨在研究 2011 年东日本大地震后受害者电视图像如何与儿童及其父母的心理健康相关联。
方法：2012年向2053户家庭发放社会人口因素问卷。 2013年联系了提供书面同意的父母，并邀请他们提供有关心理健康问题（结果）的信息，并回顾性地提供地震发生时看电视的信息（暴露）。 我们使用完成调查的 159 位家长的数据作为最终样本。 我们使用二分变量来评估媒体报道的暴露率。使用多变量回归考查受害者电视图像暴露与心理健康之间的关联，控制了潜在的混杂因素。 使用偏差校正和加速自举置信区间 (CI)。
结果：接触受害人电视图像与儿童较差的心理病理（β，1.51；95% CI，0.07 至 2.96）和父母较大的心理困扰（β，1.49；95% CI，0.28 至 2.70）显著相关。 儿童精神病和父母心理困扰显著相关（r = 0.36，p < .001）。
结论：接触灾难受害者电视图像可能对儿童及其父母的心理健康产生长期影响。 为了减少与灾难相关的心理健康问题的可能性，临床医生可能会建议减少接触受害者电视图像。
Keywords: Desastres naturales; Exposición a Televisión; Japan; Japón; Psicopatología; Sufrimiento psicológico; Television exposure; natural disasters; psychological distress; psychopathology; 心理困扰; 心理病理学; 日本; 电视暴露; 自然灾害.
Television images of victims after the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake were associated with worse psychopathology among children in 2013, adjusted for potential confounders.Similar associations were found in psychological distress among their parents.Child psychopathology and parental psychological distress were correlated with each other.