Twitter Users Display Desensitization to Bad Health News: An Observational Study (Preprint)

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hannah R Stevens ◽  
Yoo Jung Oh ◽  
Laramie R Taylor
Keyword(s):  
The United States ◽  
Emotional Reactions ◽  
Coping Behaviors ◽  
Health News ◽  
The Public ◽  
Death Toll ◽  
The Us ◽  
Twitter Users ◽  
Novel Coronavirus ◽  
Over Time

BACKGROUND Among the countries affected by the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), the US shows the highest number of confirmed cases (18.7 million, 23.5% of confirmed cases worldwide) and deaths (0.3 million, 18.9% of death worldwide) as of December 26, 2020. Early on in the pandemic, widespread social, financial, and mental insecurities led to extreme and irrational coping behaviors, such as panic buying. Yet, despite the consistent spread of COVID-19 transmission, the public have begun to violate public safety measures. From such observations, two key considerations arise. First, fear-eliciting health messages have a significant effect on eliciting motivation to take action in order to control the threat. However, repeated exposure to these messages over long periods results in desensitization to those stimuli. OBJECTIVE In this work, we examine the effect of fear-inducing news articles on people’s expression of anxiety on Twitter. Additionally, we investigate desensitization to the fear-inducing health news over time, despite the steadily rising COVID-19 death toll. METHODS This study examined the anxiety levels in news articles (n=1,465) and corresponding tweets containing “COVID,” “COVID-19,” “pandemic,” and “coronavirus” over 11 months, then correlated that information with the death toll of COVID-19 in the United States. RESULTS Overall, tweets that shared links to anxious articles were more likely to be anxious. (OR 2.62, 95% CI 1.58-4.43, p < .001). These odds decreased (OR 0.41, 95% CI 0.2-0.83, p = .01) when the death toll reached the 3rd quartile and 4th quartile (OR 0.42, 95% CI 0.21-0.85, p = .01). Yet tweet anxiety rose rapidly with articles when the death toll was low and then decreased in the 3rd quartile of deaths (OR .61, 95% CI 0.37-1.01, p=.058). As predicted, in addition to the increasing death toll being matched by a lower level of article anxiety, the extent to which article anxiety elicited tweet anxiety decreased when the death count reached the 2nd quartile. CONCLUSIONS Tweets increased sharply in response to article anxiety early on in the COVID-19 pandemic, but as the casualty count climbed, news articles seemingly lost their ability to elicit anxiety among readers. This work investigated how individuals' emotional reactions to news of the COVID-19 pandemic manifest as the death toll increases. Findings suggest individuals became desensitized to the increased COVID-19 threat and their emotional responses were blunted over time.

scholarly journals Desensitization to Fear-Inducing COVID-19 Health News on Twitter: Observational Study

10.2196/26876 ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. e26876
Author(s):  
Hannah R Stevens ◽  
Yoo Jung Oh ◽  
Laramie D Taylor
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
The United States ◽  
Emotional Reactions ◽  
Coping Behaviors ◽  
Health News ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Third ◽  
Death Toll ◽  
Public Health Officials ◽  
Over Time

Background As of May 9, 2021, the United States had 32.7 million confirmed cases of COVID-19 (20.7% of confirmed cases worldwide) and 580,000 deaths (17.7% of deaths worldwide). Early on in the pandemic, widespread social, financial, and mental insecurities led to extreme and irrational coping behaviors, such as panic buying. However, despite the consistent spread of COVID-19 transmission, the public began to violate public safety measures as the pandemic got worse. Objective In this work, we examine the effect of fear-inducing news articles on people’s expression of anxiety on Twitter. Additionally, we investigate desensitization to fear-inducing health news over time, despite the steadily rising COVID-19 death toll. Methods This study examined the anxiety levels in news articles (n=1465) and corresponding user tweets containing “COVID,” “COVID-19,” “pandemic,” and “coronavirus” over 11 months, then correlated that information with the death toll of COVID-19 in the United States. Results Overall, tweets that shared links to anxious articles were more likely to be anxious (odds ratio [OR] 2.65, 95% CI 1.58-4.43, P<.001). These odds decreased (OR 0.41, 95% CI 0.2-0.83, P=.01) when the death toll reached the third quartile and fourth quartile (OR 0.42, 95% CI 0.21-0.85, P=.01). However, user tweet anxiety rose rapidly with articles when the death toll was low and then decreased in the third quartile of deaths (OR 0.61, 95% CI 0.37-1.01, P=.06). As predicted, in addition to the increasing death toll being matched by a lower level of article anxiety, the extent to which article anxiety elicited user tweet anxiety decreased when the death count reached the second quartile. Conclusions The level of anxiety in users’ tweets increased sharply in response to article anxiety early on in the COVID-19 pandemic, but as the casualty count climbed, news articles seemingly lost their ability to elicit anxiety among readers. Desensitization offers an explanation for why the increased threat is not eliciting widespread behavioral compliance with guidance from public health officials. This work investigated how individuals' emotional reactions to news of the COVID-19 pandemic manifest as the death toll increases. Findings suggest individuals became desensitized to the increased COVID-19 threat and their emotional responses were blunted over time.

scholarly journals Author Middle Initial Correction: "Desensitization to Fear-Inducing COVID-19 Health News on Twitter: Observational Study" (Preprint)

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hannah Stevens ◽  
Yoo Jung Oh ◽  
Laramie D Taylor
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
The United States ◽  
Emotional Reactions ◽  
Health News ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Third ◽  
Death Toll ◽  
Public Health Officials ◽  
Initial Correction ◽  
Over Time

BACKGROUND As of May 9, 2021, the United States had 32.7 million confirmed cases of COVID-19 (20.7% of confirmed cases worldwide) and 580,000 deaths (17.7% of deaths worldwide). Early on in the pandemic, widespread social, financial, and mental insecurities led to extreme and irrational coping behaviors, such as panic buying. However, despite the consistent spread of COVID-19 transmission, the public began to violate public safety measures as the pandemic got worse. OBJECTIVE In this work, we examine the effect of fear-inducing news articles on people’s expression of anxiety on Twitter. Additionally, we investigate desensitization to fear-inducing health news over time, despite the steadily rising COVID-19 death toll. METHODS This study examined the anxiety levels in news articles (n=1465) and corresponding user tweets containing “COVID,” “COVID-19,” “pandemic,” and “coronavirus” over 11 months, then correlated that information with the death toll of COVID-19 in the United States. RESULTS Overall, tweets that shared links to anxious articles were more likely to be anxious (odds ratio [OR] 2.65, 95% CI 1.58-4.43, P<.001). These odds decreased (OR 0.41, 95% CI 0.2-0.83, P=.01) when the death toll reached the third quartile and fourth quartile (OR 0.42, 95% CI 0.21-0.85, P=.01). However, user tweet anxiety rose rapidly with articles when the death toll was low and then decreased in the third quartile of deaths (OR 0.61, 95% CI 0.37-1.01, P=.06). As predicted, in addition to the increasing death toll being matched by a lower level of article anxiety, the extent to which article anxiety elicited user tweet anxiety decreased when the death count reached the second quartile. CONCLUSIONS The level of anxiety in users’ tweets increased sharply in response to article anxiety early on in the COVID-19 pandemic, but as the casualty count climbed, news articles seemingly lost their ability to elicit anxiety among readers. Desensitization offers an explanation for why the increased threat is not eliciting widespread behavioral compliance with guidance from public health officials. This work investigated how individuals' emotional reactions to news of the COVID-19 pandemic manifest as the death toll increases. Findings suggest individuals became desensitized to the increased COVID-19 threat and their emotional responses were blunted over time.

Trends in Public Support for Welfare Spending: How the Economy Matters

2019 ◽  
pp. 1-18
Author(s):  
Christopher Wlezien ◽  
Stuart Soroka
Keyword(s):  
Public Support ◽  
The United States ◽  
Time Pattern ◽  
Welfare Spending ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Us ◽  
Preference Evolution ◽  
Underlying Trend ◽  
Over Time

AbstractAs spending on welfare in the United States has increased over time, preferences for more spending have remained fairly stationary. Given that previous research shows that the public adjusts its welfare spending preference thermostatically in response to welfare spending, the over-time pattern of preferences implies that something must be producing an increase in public support, but what? We address this question, focusing on individuals' demographics and a set of aggregate economic variables, both macroeconomic and distributional. Results reveal that individual-level factors matter little to the temporal variation and aggregate economics matter a lot: there are pro-cyclical and counter-cyclical elements in spending preferences and a dampening effect of income inequality over time. The combination of these variables accounts for the underlying trend in welfare spending preferences in the US, and the method used to reveal these dynamics can be used to analyze preference evolution in other spending domains and countries.

Interaction of Ukrainian Diaspora and the USA Government Regarding Celebration of Ukrainian Independence Day on January 22

2018 ◽  
Vol 1 (47) ◽  
pp. 136-145
Author(s):  
Halyna Shchyhelska
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
House Of Representatives ◽  
The United States ◽  
100Th Anniversary ◽  
Totalitarian Regime ◽  
The Public ◽  
Us Congress ◽  
The Us ◽  
Public Consciousness ◽  
The Usa

2018 marks the 100th anniversary of the proclamation of Ukrainian independence. OnJanuary 22, 1918, the Ukrainian People’s Republic proclaimed its independence by adopting the IV Universal of the Ukrainian Central Rada, although this significant event was «wiped out» from the public consciousness on the territory of Ukraine during the years of the Soviet totalitarian regime. At the same time, January 22 was a crucial event for the Ukrainian diaspora in the USA. This article examines how American Ukrainians interacted with the USA Government institutions regarding the celebration and recognition of the Ukrainian Independence day on January 22. The attention is focused on the activities of ethnic Ukrainians in the United States, directed at the organization of the special celebration of the Ukrainian Independence anniversaries in the US Congress and cities. Drawing from the diaspora press and Congressional Records, this article argues that many members of Congress participated in the observed celebration and expressed kind feelings to the Ukrainian people, recognised their fight for freedom, during the House of Representatives and Senate sessions. Several Congressmen submitted the resolutions in the US Congress urging the President of United States to designate January 22 as «Ukrainian lndependence Day». January 22 was proclaimed Ukrainian Day by the governors of fifteen States and mayors of many cities. Keywords: January 22, Ukrainian independence day, Ukrainian diaspora, USA, interaction, Congress

The New Economic Populism and the Future of Inequality in the United States

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
William W. Franko ◽  
Christopher Witko
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Federal Government ◽  
Labor Unions ◽  
Republican Party ◽  
The United States ◽  
The Public ◽  
Empirical Results ◽  
Income Disparities ◽  
The Face ◽  
Over Time

The authors conclude the book by recapping their arguments and empirical results, and discussing the possibilities for the “new economic populism” to promote egalitarian economic outcomes in the face of continuing gridlock and the dominance of Washington, DC’s policymaking institutions by business and the wealthy, and a conservative Republican Party. Many states are actually addressing inequality now, and these policies are working. Admittedly, many states also continue to embrace the policies that have contributed to growing inequality, such as tax cuts for the wealthy or attempting to weaken labor unions. But as the public grows more concerned about inequality, the authors argue, policies that help to address these income disparities will become more popular, and policies that exacerbate inequality will become less so. Over time, if history is a guide, more egalitarian policies will spread across the states, and ultimately to the federal government.

Public perceptions of who counts as a scientist for controversial science

2019 ◽  
Vol 28 (7) ◽  
pp. 797-811 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brianne Suldovsky ◽  
Asheley Landrum ◽  
Natalie Jomini Stroud
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Media Coverage ◽  
Political Ideology ◽  
Genetically Modified Organisms ◽  
The United States ◽  
Public Perceptions ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Us ◽  
Science Media

In an era where expertise is increasingly critiqued, this study draws from the research on expertise and scientist stereotyping to explore who the public considers to be a scientist in the context of media coverage about climate change and genetically modified organisms. Using survey data from the United States, we find that political ideology and science knowledge affect who the US public believes is a scientist in these domains. Our results suggest important differences in the role of science media attention and science media selection in the publics “scientist” labeling. In addition, we replicate previous work and find that compared to other people who work in science, those with PhDs in Biology and Chemistry are most commonly seen as scientists.

scholarly journals Trends in Disability Among Adults 55-64 in the United States and England From 2002 to 2016

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 303-303
Author(s):  
HwaJung Choi ◽  
Robert Schoeni ◽  
Tsai-Chin Cho ◽  
Kenneth Langa
Keyword(s):  
Activities Of Daily Living ◽  
Daily Living ◽  
Income Group ◽  
The United States ◽  
Annual Change ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Income Groups ◽  
The Us ◽  
Disability Prevalence ◽  
Over Time

Abstract The paper’s goal is to assess whether and, if so, the extent to which prevalence in disability of adults near retirement ages in the US increased over time compared to their peers in England and examine income group differences in the relative trends. This study uses 2002-2016 Health and Retirement Study (HRS) and English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA) focusing on adults aged 55-64. Annual percent changes over the period of 2002-2016 for limitations in instrumental activities of daily living (IADL) and activities of daily living (ADL) are estimated for each survey (HRS and ELSA) using multivariable logistic regressions to adjust for individual-level characteristics While disability prevalence of adults ages 55-64 in England improved over the years of 2002-2016 (annual % change= -2.01 for IADL; - 2.53 for ADL), disability prevalence of US adults has not improved and in fact even worsened in terms of IADL (annual % change= +1.35). There are substantial variations in the IADL/ADL trends by income groups. In the US, the adverse trends in disability were more pronounced among the lowest income groups (annual % change in IADL=1.76 for bottom 20% vs. -2.08 for top 20%; annual % change in ADL=1.08 for bottom 20% vs. -2.08 for top 20%). In England, the disability status improved over time for all but the lowest income group. We will examine further to identify specific factors contributing to divergent/convergent trends in disability between the US and England.

Food vs. fuel — A turning point for bioethanol?

2008 ◽  
Vol 56 (4) ◽  
pp. 429-433 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. Harlander
Keyword(s):  
Agricultural Production ◽  
Public Perception ◽  
Turning Point ◽  
The United States ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Us ◽  
Additional Demand ◽  
Oil Crisis ◽  
Emotional Resistance ◽  
The Eu

Bioethanol is made from sugar- or starch-containing plants that are also used in food production. In the public perception this has led to an emotional resistance against biofuels, which in real terms is not substantiated. Generally biofuels are a political product. Triggered by the oil crisis in the 1970s, fuel ethanol programmes were first launched in Brazil and in the United States. Concerns regarding energy security and sustainability, together with the option of new markets for surplus agricultural production, have led to similar measures in the EU and other countries in recent years. Accordingly, the industry invested heavily in new bioethanol plants — especially in the US — and created an additional demand for maize and wheat, with some record-breaking prices noted in late 2007. A look back into statistics shows a drastic decline in real prices for decades, which have now simply returned to the level of 30 years ago. The grain used for bioethanol is currently only 1.6% in the EU and is therefore unlikely to be the real driver of price development. The European Commission concludes in its review of agricultural markets that Europe can do both: nutrition and biofuels.

History and Current Trends in the Electronic Cigarette Retail Marketplace in the United States: 2010–2016

2018 ◽  
Vol 22 (5) ◽  
pp. 843-847 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer Cantrell ◽  
Jidong Huang ◽  
Marisa Greenberg ◽  
Jeffrey Willett ◽  
Elizabeth Hair ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Tobacco Industry ◽  
The United States ◽  
Retail Market ◽  
Current Trends ◽  
Published Evidence ◽  
The Us ◽  
Industry Response ◽  
Market Trends ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Over Time

Abstract Introduction The US market for electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS) has grown rapidly in the last decade. There is limited published evidence examining changes in the ENDS marketplace prior to the US Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) deeming rule in 2016. This study describes US ENDS retail market trends from 2010 to 2016. Methods National data were obtained from Nielsen retail scanners for five product types: (1) disposables, (2) rechargeables, (3) cartridge replacements, (4) e-liquid bottle refills, and (5) specialty vapor products. We examined dollar sales, volume, price, brand, and flavor. Results Adjusted national sales increased from $11.6 million in 2010 to $751.2 million in 2016. The annual rate of sales growth rapidly increased before slowing through 2015. The rate of growth spiked in 2016. Market share for menthol products and other assorted flavors increased from 20% in 2010 to 52.1% by 2016. NJOY’s early market dominance shifted as tobacco industry brands entered the market and eventually captured 87.8% of share by 2016. Rechargeables and accompanying products comprised an increased proportion of total volume sold over time while disposable volume declined. Specialty vapor products appeared at retail in 2015. Conclusions Findings show strong early growth in the ENDS retail market followed by considerable slowing over time, despite a slight uptick in 2016. Trends reflect shifts to flavored products, newer generation “open-system” devices, lower prices, and tobacco industry brands. This study provides a baseline against which to compare the impact of FDA’s 2016 deeming rule and future actions on the ENDS marketplace. Implications This study uses market scanner data from US retail outlets to describe trends in the ENDS retail market from 2010 to 2016, providing a baseline against which to compare the impact of FDA’s 2016 deeming rule and future actions on the ENDS marketplace. Understanding historical market trends is valuable in assessing how future regulatory efforts and advances in ENDS technology may impact industry response and consumer uptake and use.

scholarly journals The COVID-19 Pandemic and Mental Health Concerns on Twitter in the United States

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Senqi Zhang ◽  
Li Sun ◽  
Daiwei Zhang ◽  
Pin Li ◽  
Yue Liu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
United States ◽  
Topic Modeling ◽  
The United States ◽  
Allocation Model ◽  
Health Concerns ◽  
Demographic Composition ◽  
The Us ◽  
Mental Health Concerns ◽  
Twitter Users

AbstractBackgroundMental health illness is a growing problem in recent years. During the COVID-19 pandemic, mental health concerns (such as fear and loneliness) have been actively discussed on social media.ObjectiveIn this study, we aim to examine mental health discussions on Twitter during the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States and infer the demographic composition of Twitter users who had mental health concerns.MethodsCOVID-19 related tweets from March 5th, 2020 to January 31st, 2021 were collected through Twitter streaming API using COVID-19 related keywords (e.g., “corona”, “covid19”, “covid”). By further filtering using mental health keywords (e.g., “depress”, “failure”, “hopeless”), we extracted mental health-related tweets from the US. Topic modeling using the Latent Dirichlet Allocation model was conducted to monitor users’ discussions surrounding mental health concerns. Demographic inference using deep learning algorithms (including Face++ and Ethnicolr) was performed to infer the demographic composition of Twitter users who had mental health concerns during the COVID-19 pandemic.ResultsWe observed a positive correlation between mental health concerns on Twitter and the COVID-19 pandemic in the US. Topic modeling showed that “stay-at-home”, “death poll” and “politics and policy” were the most popular topics in COVID-19 mental health tweets. Among Twitter users who had mental health concerns during the pandemic, Males, White, and 30-49 age group people were more likely to express mental health concerns. In addition, Twitter users from the east and west coast had more mental health concerns.ConclusionsThe COVID-19 pandemic has a significant impact on mental health concerns on Twitter in the US. Certain groups of people (such as Males, White) were more likely to have mental health concerns during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document