The effect of exposure to social-media coverage of the Russo-Ukrainian war on stress symptoms in Dutch adolescents

On February 24th 2022, Russia invaded Ukraine which formed a major escalation of the Russian-Ukrainian war. Via various social media platforms, adolescents can be constantly exposed to extensive war-related media content, even if they are not directly affected. This might pose an indirect threat to their wellbeing. In the current study, we made use of an ongoing longitudinal survey study with 426 adolescents (13-25 years old) from the Netherlands. The participants reported on their media exposure about the Russian-Ukrainian war as well as their stress symptoms in consequence of it. A linear regression model showed that war-related media exposure predicted stress symptoms in the adolescents. This relation was not moderated by trust in the news, social media or the government. Our study adds important insight into the indirect effects of war-related media on adolescents in Western Europe.