Gabriele Urbonaite

Ms. Gabriele Urbonaite


Research Focus & Metrics

Academic Career Length

6Years (2021-Present)

(Calculated once Scilit publication data is synced: current year − year of first publication + 1)

Representative Publications

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29 September 2021 in Healthcare
Verified
Journal Article
Open access
PDF file
NŽNida Žemaitienė
Nida Žemaitienė
MKMilda Kukulskienė
Milda Kukulskienė
VMVilma Migline
Vilma Migline
LKLoreta Kubiliene
Loreta Kubiliene
GUGabriele Urbonaite
Gabriele Urbonaite
Kastytis SmigelskasKastytis Smigelskas
Kastytis Smigelskas
In the setting of disasters, people seek information as they hope that knowledge will provide security. This makes the media a critical source of crisis exposure. The aim of the study described in this article was to analyze COVID-19 pandemic-related psychological aspects of media use by healthcare and pharmacy workers in Lithuania and to reveal the subjective effects of media consumption on their psychological well-being. 967 healthcare workers and pharmacists in Lithuania completed an electronic survey, which consisted of questions about the changes in well-being experienced since the beginning of the lockdown and media use in the search for information on COVID-19. It was found that communication might have ambiguous effects on psychological well-being. Excessive, unreliable, misleading, contradictory information and “catastrophizing” were subjectively related to impaired psychological well-being. Objective and reliable, relevant, clear, timely, hopeful and supportive information had a subjective positive effect. Seeking COVID-19-related information many times a day was associated with increased fear of becoming infected with COVID-19, feeling unable to control the risk of contracting COVID-19, fear of infecting relatives with COVID-19 and feeling that other people would avoid interaction with healthcare workers and pharmacists because of their job. General browsing was not consistently associated with COVID-19-related fears.