Posttraumatic Stress Related to Orlando Nightclub Shooting: LGBTQ Identity and Media Use

Abstract

This study examined posttraumatic stress symptoms in a sample of U.S. adults (N = 1015) to examine the mental health impact of the Pulse Nightclub shooting media exposure. Direct and indirect relationships between LGBTQ identify, media use, emotions to media, and posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTS) related to the Pulse Nightclub shooting were examined using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). Results found Pulse shooting media use had a direct effect with emotional reactions and PTS, and identifying as LGBTQ had a direct effect between stronger emotional reactions and PTS. Results also found that discontinuing use of Pulse shooting media coverage mediated the relationship between exposure to media coverage and PTS.

Keywords:

• Posttraumatic stress
• Orlando Pulse Nightclub Shooting
• media effects
• social identity
• LGBTQ

Data availability statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author, [JF], upon reasonable request.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Jennifer M. First

Jennifer M. First (PhD, MSW [email protected]) is an Assistant Professor in the College of Social Work at the University of Tennessee and a Faculty Fellow at the Disaster and Community Crisis Center at the University of Missouri. Her research focuses on the human impacts of disasters and reducing social inequities in exposure to risk and access to resources.

Haejung Shin

Haejung Shin (PhD, [email protected]) is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Communication at the University of Central Missouri. Her research focuses on the role of media and communications in individuals’ perceptions, attitudes, and behaviors in the context of disaster, risk, and crisis.

Andrea Figueroa-Caballero

Andrea Figueroa-Caballero (PhD, [email protected]) is a User Experience Researcher and courtesy Assistant Professor in the Department of Communication at the University of Missouri. Her academic research explores the link between exposure to representations of racial/ethnic minorities and other underserved groups in media content and subsequent perceptions of the self and other as well as a host of socially significant outcomes such as stereotyping, group esteem, and implicit bias.

Katherine Okker-Edging

Katherine Okker-Edging (MA, MPH, [email protected]) is a doctoral student at the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania. Her research is at the intersection of public health and communication, with a particular interest in mental health and LGBTQ+ health.

Matthew L. Spialek

Matthew L. Spialek (PhD, [email protected]) is an Associate Professor in the Department of Communication at the University of Arkansas. His research examines how individuals build relationships in communication ecologies in order to foster the civic life, public health, and resilience of communities that have or are at risk of experiencing crises and disasters.

J. Brian Houston

J. Brian Houston (PhD, [email protected]) is Professor and Chair in the Department of Communication at the University of Missouri and is Director for the Disaster and Community Crisis Center (DCC) at the University of Missouri. Houston’s research focuses on communication at all phases of disasters and on the mental health effects of community crises.