Introduction: Based on much public demand, emergencies are extensively covered on televised news. As most individuals acquire knowledge about large-scale events through the media, these outlets play a crucial role by delivering vital information and safety guidelines to the public. However, they also simultaneously provide viewers with vivid, unsettling, and distressing details about casualties, impending dangers, and dire predictions, which could potentially be traumatizing and deter individuals from taking the necessary proactive protective behavior concerning each threat. This study aims to assess the impact of continuous 24/7 news broadcasting on the mental well-being of Jewish Israelis during the ‘Iron Swords’ War and compare it to findings from the 2014 Conflict. Methods: An internet-based cross-sectional panel survey was conducted on 11–12 October 2023, during the ‘Iron Swords’ War. The study focused on Israel’s adult Jewish population, enabling comparisons with a previous 2014 study. Results: Participants reported news consumption changes, attitudes towards newscasts (burdensome, relaxing, stressful, addictive, Fear Of Missing Out FOMO, avoidance), opinions on 24/7 news, and anxiety symptoms. Among 802 adult Jewish participants in Israel, 83.8% increased news consumption. While more than 70% of respondents found the newscast stressful at least a medium level, more than 40% said they do not try to avoid them at all. Nearly 24% found it very addictive. Women and younger individuals reported more FOMO, stress, and addiction. More than 70% reported experiencing at least one anxiety symptom, and 21% of all four. Linear regression explained 42.9% of the variance of reported anxiety, with gender, age, news stress, addiction, and FOMO as predictors. Conclusion: The results show an increase in all measurements compared to a separate study conducted using the same tools in 2014. Jewish Israelis struggled with news consumption during the recent war, harming their mental health. Heightened anxiety was observed, compared to 2014, and affected all demographics.
Arielle Kaim (Sun,) studied this question.