The Impact of Media Format and Exposure Duration on Anxiety

Opening Slide

  • social media usage has become an integral part of daily life, influencing mental health.
  • “Dwelling on the negative simply contributes to its power.” — Shirley MacLaine
  • Anxiety increased from 5.12% in 2008 to 6.68% in 2018 among adult Americans.
    • Most notable increase: 18–25-year-olds, from 7.97% to 14.66% (Goodwin, et al., 2018)

Media Format

  • Construct Definition
    • Media format refers to the type of content delivery medium used in the study, specifically the distinction between social media posts and short essays.
  • Operational Definition
    • Operationalized by categorizing the content into two formats: essays and social media posts.

Exposure Time

  • Construct Definition
    • Exposure length refers to the duration of time participants are exposed to media content.
  • Operational Definition
    • Short Exposure: 1 minute
    • Long Exposure: 3 minutes

Perceived Anxiety

  • Construct Definition
    • Perceived anxiety refers to the anxiety reported by participants
  • Operational Definition
    • Measured using a self-report questionnaire
    • Participants rated anxiety on scale from 1 to 5
    • “How anxious do you feel right now?”

Hypothesis

  • Main Hypothesis
    • Format and duration of media exposure will significantly impact perceived anxiety.
    • Participants exposed to social media posts will experience less anxiety compared to those exposed to short essays.
    • Duration of exposure will moderate the relationship between media format and perceived anxiety, with shorter exposure leading to higher anxiety levels.
Media format
Social media short essay
Exposure time 1 minute less anxiety more anxiety
3 minute more anxiety less anxiety

Figure of actual results for 10 bonus points

                                 Df Sum Sq Mean Sq F value Pr(>F)
`Exposure length`                 1   0.53  0.5315   0.477  0.492
`Media format`                    1   1.72  1.7180   1.541  0.218
`Exposure length`:`Media format`  1   0.08  0.0836   0.075  0.785
Residuals                        82  91.40  1.1146               

Discussion

  • Limitation
    • Construct Validity:
      • Used time limits rather than longer social media posts and essays
      • No way to ensure full attention, possibly reducing total exposure time to the conditions
      • could result in data with less meaning due to reduced exposure time
  • Strength
    • Real-World Application:
      • actual social media posts and essays
      • relevant to real-world scenarios
  • Implication
    • Impact on Mental Health Interventions:
      • designed to Highlight importance of considering media format and exposure length

Take Home Message: Media Exposure and Anxiety: Confounding Factors Matter

  • Key Point:
    • Results supported the null hypothesis
    • Indicated no significant effect of media format or exposure length on anxiety levels
    • Likely due to confounding factors in the study design
  • Hopeful Note:
    • Future research with improved design can offer clearer insights
    • Let’s continue to refine our approaches to better understand and improve mental health outcomes