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Communication Studies Volume 70, 2019 - Issue 5
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Articles

Opening the Minds’ Eye: The Pivotal Role of Sympathy in Depression Coverage Effectiveness

Yen-I Lee Yen-I Lee (Ph.D., University of Georgia) is an Assistant Professor of Strategic Communication in Edward R. Murrow College of Communication at Washington State University. Her primary research is in the areas of health communication and strategic public relations, focusing on the role of messaging content, technology use, attention, and emotions in the context of health crisis and risk communication.Correspondence[email protected]
ORCID Iconhttps://orcid.org/0000-0001-7820-6568
ORCID Icon,
Yuan Zhang Yuan Zhang (Ph.D., University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill) is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Communication at Westfield State University. Her research focuses on mental health communication and health message framing content and effects.
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Yan Jin Yan Jin (Ph.D., University of Missouri-Columbia) is the Georgia Athletic Association Professor in Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication and the Assistant Department Head of Advertising and Public Relations at the University of Georgia (UGA). She is also the Associate Director of UGA’s Center for Health and Risk Communication. Her primary research programs are in the areas of crisis communication and strategic health risk communication, focusing on the role of emotions and social media in crisis communication theory and application.ORCID Iconhttps://orcid.org/0000-0003-4228-5529
ORCID Icon,
Sungsu Kim Sungsu Kim (Ph.D., The University of Georgia) is an Assistant Professor of Public Relations in the Department of Communication in School of Communication and the Arts at Marist College. His research includes public relations, crisis communication, health communication, campaign message effects, and social media interaction.
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Ernest F. Martin Ernest F. Martin Jr(Ph.D, The University of Missouri -Columbia) is an Affiliate Faculty member in the Richard T. Robertson School of Media and Culture at Virginia Commonwealth University. His research focuses on strategic public relations, influence and persuasion, and alternative communication channels.
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Joshua J. Smith Joshua J. Smith, M.S. is an Assistant Professor of Public Relations in the Richard T. Robertson School of Media and Culture at Virginia Commonwealth. His current areas of instruction span PR writing, media relations, graphic design and production. Over the last decade he has applied his knowledge and skills to communication and marketing roles with statewide nonprofit, health care and business-to-business organizations, operating in both management and leadership roles in the industry. He holds both a bachelor’s and master’s of science in mass communication with a strategic focus in public relations. Additionally, he has contributed to individual and group research for academic conferences and publications in the areas of ethics, health care, and social media. He has an ongoing interest in the growing field of media psychology with a related passion for media literacy, technology and public relations.
Pages 633-653 | Published online: 19 Aug 2019
 
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Abstract

Depression is one of the most severe health threats to the college student population. Depression communication plays an essential role in reducing stigma and discrimination against sufferers. However, the effectiveness of such communication remains understudied, especially when it comes to the psychological process of connecting outcomes of depression messages and communication. To tackle this challenge, this study examined how and what depression coverage with a news framing strategy and attribution approach influenced college students’ affective and cognitive responses as well as their willingness to provide social support to depression sufferers. Key findings include first: controlling for issue involvement, depression coverage with episodic framing and societal responsibility attribution evoked the most sympathy among participants; and second: sympathy toward the depressed individual and efficacy in depression identification served as sequential mediators for the effects of the depression coverage with episodic framing and societal attribution on social support willingness. These insights suggest that health communication researchers and practitioners should use effective storytelling to evoke more sympathy, which then activates higher efficacy and leads to stronger social support willingness.

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