RAPID: Responding to Terror of a Different Kind: A National Study of the Ebola Epidemic

10月份，一名利比里亚男子在美国本土被诊断为埃博拉相关死亡，随后在德克萨斯州达拉斯治疗他的两名护士被诊断为埃博拉感染，这使得埃博拉成为2014年10月美国最受关注的新闻故事，媒体关注的焦点是埃博拉歇斯底里的说法。由于埃博拉病毒很少见，大多数美国人都是通过传统媒体(如电视、广播)和社交媒体(如Facebook、Twitter)了解到的。然而，关于疾病如何传播、病例和死亡人数以及受害者可怕的死亡方式，基于媒体的信息在准确性和语气上各不相同。如果媒体传播不能满足民众的信息和情感需求，它们可能无法帮助--甚至让事情变得更糟--因为它们破坏了公民和当局之间的信任，增加了公众的焦虑和自满。这项研究考察了广泛的埃博拉相关媒体报道在提供人们了解埃博拉相关威胁所需信息方面的有效性。研究小组评估了这种媒体报道与埃博拉相关压力反应的联系，以及随着这场公共健康危机的展开，认知和情感因素如何结合在一起塑造风险评估、行为反应和心理健康结果。在正在进行的研究中，该团队在波士顿马拉松爆炸案(BMB)发生后的18个月里，对具有全国代表性的个人样本进行了三次调查。该样本包括具有全国代表性的成年人样本和具有代表性的波士顿和纽约大都市居民的子样本。这项新研究涉及立即对所有可获得的受访者进行的关于埃博拉威胁的后续调查，包括检查与埃博拉相关的风险认知和压力反应的预测因素，控制先前存在的心理健康状态、功能、先前的创伤暴露和媒体行为。这项研究有三个主要目标：*估计与埃博拉相关的媒体接触、埃博拉风险认知、对管理(和沟通)埃博拉病毒的机构的信任，以及对感知到的埃博拉威胁的行为和情感反应。*调查与埃博拉相关的媒体报道的类型(例如，电视、推特、在线新闻)、数量(例如，总时数)和性质(例如，图像类型)如何与风险认知以及行为和情感反应(例如，压力反应、躯体化)相关联。*调查先前暴露于个人(例如，儿童期接触暴力)和集体(例如，BMB，9/11)压力是否与埃博拉相关的风险认知以及对埃博拉病毒威胁的行为和情感反应有关。这项研究的意义在于审查与风险评估和社区应对国家危机有关的问题。这些研究结果将(A)加深我们对埃博拉病毒相关媒体报道在风险认知和应对埃博拉疫情中所起作用的理解，(B)有助于及早识别在公共卫生危机之后出现后续困难的高危个人，(C)将压力和应对文献与风险分析和感知文献相结合，以及(D)帮助政策制定者、服务提供者、媒体专业人员和教育工作者设计具有成本效益的设计，基于证据的风险沟通和干预，对不同的需求敏感。本项目是应NSF 15-006关于埃博拉病毒的尊敬的同事来信提交的。_

The diagnosis and Ebola-related death of a Liberian man on US soil in October, and the subsequent diagnosis of an Ebola infection of two nurses who treated him in Dallas, Texas, made Ebola the most closely followed news story in the US in October, 2014, with much media attention focused on claims of ?Ebola hysteria.? Because Ebola is rare, most Americans have learned about it exclusively from traditional (e.g., TV, radio) and social (e.g., Facebook, Twitter) media sources. Yet, media-based information varies in accuracy and tone regarding how the disease is spread, the numbers of cases and deaths, and the gruesome way its victims die. If media communications fail to address the informational and emotional needs of the populace, they may fail to help -- or even make matters worse -- by undermining the trust between citizens and authorities and increasing public anxiety and complacency. This research examines the efficacy of widespread Ebola-related media coverage in providing information that people need to understand Ebola-related threats. The research team assesses how this media coverage is linked to Ebola-related stress response, and how cognitive and emotional factors combine to shape risk assessments, behavioral responses, and mental health outcomes as this public health crisis unfolds. In ongoing research, the team has surveyed a nationally representative sample of individuals three times over the 18 months since the Boston Marathon Bombings (BMB). The sample includes a nationally representative sample of adults and representative subsamples of residents from metropolitan Boston and New York. This new research involves a follow-up survey on the Ebola threat with all available respondents immediately, including an examination of predictors of Ebola-related risk perceptions and stress response, controlling for pre-existing mental health status, functioning, prior trauma exposures, and media behavior. The research has three primary aims: * Estimate Ebola-related media exposure, Ebola risk perceptions, trust in the institutions managing (and communicating about) Ebola, and behavioral and emotional responses to perceived Ebola threat. * Investigate how type (e.g., television, Twitter, online news), amount (e.g., total hours), and nature (e.g., types of images) of Ebola-related media coverage are associated with risk perceptions, and behavioral and emotional responses (e.g., stress response, somatization). * Investigate whether prior exposure to individual (e.g., childhood exposure to violence) and collective (e.g., the BMB, 9/11) stress are associated with Ebola-related risk perceptions and behavioral and emotional responses to the Ebola virus threat. The significance of the research is in the examination of questions relevant to risk assessment and community response to a national crisis. The findings will (a) further our understanding of the role played by Ebola-related media coverage in risk perceptions and stress responses to the outbreak, (b) facilitate early identification of individuals at risk for subsequent difficulties following public health crises, (c) integrate the stress and coping literature with that on risk analysis and perception, and (d) help policymakers, service providers, media professionals, and educators design cost-effective, evidence-based risk communication and interventions that are sensitive to diverse needs.This project was submitted in response to NSF 15-006 Dear Colleague Letter on the Ebola Virus.___________________