Ten years after the uprising in Syria, millions of its citizens remain displaced and uncertain about their fate. Throughout that period, media coverage about the ensuing civil war played a major role in informing Syrians and contributed to altering their levels of fear and anxiety about their country’s future and their survival prospects. This study examined the role of legacy media, online media, and interpersonal communication in increasing or reducing uncertainty among displaced and non-displaced Syrians. Through a revised construct of uncertainty reduction theory within the context of a civil war, we assessed the relationship between exposure to these media sources and feeling anxious, uncertain, angry, and in danger, and whether these feelings influenced information consumption trends. We also probed the connection between their anxiety levels and sharing information, both interpersonally and on social media. The study surveyed 2,192 Syrian adults (95% CI, ±2.5) living in Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, and Turkey, both inside and outside refugee camps, using a random multistage cluster sampling technique. The findings revealed a strong relationship between positive emotions and time spent on legacy and online media. The more secure, proud, and hopeful people felt, the more likely they were to spend time on media sources. This relationship, however, was moderated by the perceived importance of these sources. Feelings of pride, security, and hopefulness generated by television and online media correlated with the time people spent on these media sources, and the perceived importance of such media further strengthened this relationship. A different picture appeared in the relationship between positive emotions and interpersonal communication, where the perceived importance of talking to people not only significantly moderated the relationship but also canceled out the main effect of positive emotions on the time people spend communicating with others. The findings also indicated that feelings of uncertainty about these sources may stand in the way of sharing information about the war on social media.

中文翻译：

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媒体和传播在减少叙利亚战争期间不确定性方面的作用

叙利亚起义十年后，数以百万计的公民仍然流离失所，不确定自己的命运。在此期间，媒体对随后发生的内战的报道在告知叙利亚人方面发挥了重要作用，并有助于改变他们对国家未来和生存前景的恐惧和焦虑程度。本研究考察了传统媒体、在线媒体和人际交流在增加或减少流离失所和非流离失所叙利亚人的不确定性方面的作用。通过在内战背景下对不确定性减少理论的修订构造，我们评估了接触这些媒体资源与感到焦虑、不确定、愤怒和危险之间的关系，以及这些感觉是否影响信息消费趋势。我们还探讨了他们的焦虑水平与在人际交往和社交媒体上分享信息之间的联系。该研究使用随机多阶段整群抽样技术对居住在叙利亚、黎巴嫩、约旦和土耳其的 2,192 名叙利亚成年人（95% CI，±2.5）进行了调查，包括在难民营内外。调查结果揭示了积极情绪与在传统媒体和在线媒体上花费的时间之间存在密切关系。人们感觉越安全、自豪和充满希望，他们就越有可能花时间在媒体资源上。然而，这种关系因这些来源的重要性而受到缓和。电视和在线媒体产生的自豪感、安全感和希望感与人们花在这些媒体资源上的时间相关，而人们对这些媒体的重要性的认知进一步加强了这种关系。积极情绪与人际沟通之间的关系出现了不同的情况，人们认为与人交谈的重要性不仅显着缓和了这种关系，而且抵消了积极情绪对人们与他人交流时间的主要影响。调查结果还表明，对这些来源的不确定感可能会阻碍在社交媒体上分享有关战争的信息。