Background: Consumption of distressing news media, which substantially increased during the COVID-19 pandemic, has demonstrable negative effects on mental health. Objective: This study examines the proximal impact of daily exposure to news about COVID-19 on mental health in the first year of the pandemic. Methods: A sample of 546 college students completed daily ecological momentary assessments (EMAs) for 8 weeks, measuring exposure to news about COVID-19, worry and optimism specifically related to COVID-19, hopelessness, and general worry. Results: Participants completed >80,000 surveys. Multilevel mediation models indicated that greater daily exposure to news about COVID-19 is associated with higher same-day and next-day worry about the pandemic. Elevations in worry specifically about COVID-19 were in turn associated with greater next-day hopelessness and general worry. Optimism about COVID-19 mediated the relationship between daily exposure to COVID-19 news and next-day general worry but was not related to hopelessness. Conclusions: This study demonstrates the mental health impact of daily exposure to COVID-19 news and highlights how worry about the pandemic contributes over time to hopelessness and general worry.

中文翻译：

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COVID-19 大流行期间每日新闻曝光对心理健康的影响：生态瞬时评估研究

背景：令人痛苦的新闻媒体的消费在 COVID-19 大流行期间大幅增加，对心理健康产生了明显的负面影响。目的：本研究探讨了在大流行的第一年每天接触有关 COVID-19 的新闻对心理健康的近期影响。方法： 546 名大学生的样本完成了为期 8 周的每日生态瞬时评估 (EMA)，测量了对 COVID-19 新闻的接触程度、与 COVID-19 相关的担忧和乐观情绪、绝望和普遍担忧。结果：参与者完成了超过 80,000 次调查。多层次中介模型表明，每天更多地接触有关 COVID-19 的新闻与当天和次日对大流行的担忧程度较高有关。反过来，对 COVID-19 的担忧加剧又与第二天更大的绝望和普遍担忧有关。对 COVID-19 的乐观情绪调节了每天接触 COVID-19 新闻与次日普遍担忧之间的关系，但与绝望无关。结论：这项研究展示了每天接触 COVID-19 新闻对心理健康的影响，并强调了随着时间的推移，对大流行的担忧如何导致绝望和普遍担忧。