IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/socpsy/v69y2023i2p467-475.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The portrayal of mental health in Irish mainstream news media

Author

Listed:
  • Margaret Gallagher
  • Caitlin O’Leary
  • Aimee McGreal-Ballone
  • Richard Duffy

Abstract

Objectives: The portrayal of mental health in the mainstream news media is an important topic for discussion. Concerns about stigmatisation of those suffering from mental ill-health have been expressed for many years, leading to numerous anti-stigma campaigns. Previous Irish studies demonstrated an improvement in the tone and content of articles over time. This study aims to re-evaluate this topic, 19 years after it was last studied. Methods: Four Irish papers including the tabloid, broadsheet, online and compact paper with the highest readership were analysed daily for a 12-week period. Using pre-determined definitions based on previous studies, all articles or headlines incorporating psychiatry-related material were examined for tone, content, utilisation of terminology, reference to self-harm, suicide and violence. Results: In total, 735 articles (2.19/paper/day) were identified and analysed. The majority of articles were found to have a supportive or factual tone. A higher proportion of judgemental or sensationalist articles were found in the tabloid newspaper. An improvement was noted compared to previous Irish studies. A decrease in articles written by mental health professionals was noted. Only 5% of articles portrayed psychotic disorders, with many of these referring to violence. Compliance with relevant guidelines for reporting of suicide was good overall. Conclusion: There has continued to be an improvement in the tone and content of articles since previous Irish studies. The introduction of guidelines within this time may have played a significant role. Psychotic illness received limited coverage and was more likely to be portrayed in a stigmatising manner, guidelines relating to this could be of benefit. Engagement between psychiatrists and the media is important to improve the portrayal of psychotic illness and enhance awareness.

Suggested Citation

  • Margaret Gallagher & Caitlin O’Leary & Aimee McGreal-Ballone & Richard Duffy, 2023. "The portrayal of mental health in Irish mainstream news media," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 69(2), pages 467-475, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:socpsy:v:69:y:2023:i:2:p:467-475
    DOI: 10.1177/00207640221111756
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/00207640221111756
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/00207640221111756?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Diane Levin-Zamir & Isabella Bertschi, 2018. "Media Health Literacy, eHealth Literacy, and the Role of the Social Environment in Context," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(8), pages 1-12, August.
    2. Julien Mercille, 2017. "Media Coverage of Alcohol Issues: A Critical Political Economy Framework—A Case Study from Ireland," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 14(6), pages 1-13, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Jessica Liu & Donghee N. Lee & Elise M. Stevens, 2023. "Characteristics Associated with Young Adults’ Intentions to Engage with Anti-Vaping Instagram Posts," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(11), pages 1-13, June.
    2. Don Nutbeam & Diane Levin-Zamir & Gill Rowlands, 2018. "Health Literacy in Context," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(12), pages 1-3, November.
    3. Siti Nur Hidayah Abd-Rahim & Mohamed-Syarif Mohamed-Yassin & Suraya Abdul-Razak & Mohamad Rodi Isa & Noorhida Baharudin, 2021. "The Prevalence of Limited Health Literacy and Its Associated Factors among Elderly Patients Attending an Urban Academic Primary Care Clinic in Malaysia," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(17), pages 1-15, August.
    4. Zheng-An Lu & Le Shi & Jian-Yu Que & Yong-Bo Zheng & Qian-Wen Wang & Wei-Jian Liu & Yue-Tong Huang & Xiao-Xing Liu & Kai Yuan & Wei Yan & Jie Shi & Yan-Ping Bao & Lin Lu, 2022. "Accessibility to Digital Mental Health Services among the General Public throughout COVID-19: Trajectories, Influencing Factors and Association with Long-Term Mental Health Symptoms," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(6), pages 1-20, March.
    5. Amy Rudge & Kristen Foley & Belinda Lunnay & Emma R. Miller & Samantha Batchelor & Paul R. Ward, 2021. "How Are the Links between Alcohol Consumption and Breast Cancer Portrayed in Australian Newspapers?: A Paired Thematic and Framing Media Analysis," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(14), pages 1-18, July.
    6. Ya Gao & Chen Chen & Hong Hui & Mingyue Chen & Ning Chen & Hong Chen & Weiming Zeng & Yan Wei & Zhaoxin Wang & Jianwei Shi, 2022. "Improving Health Literacy: Analysis of the Relationship between Residents’ Usage of Information Channels and Health Literacy in Shanghai, China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(10), pages 1-11, May.
    7. Zeyu Tang & Jinzhu Jia, 2022. "PM2.5-Related Neonatal Infections: A Global Burden Study from 1990 to 2019," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(9), pages 1-15, April.
    8. Zeyu Tang & Jinzhu Jia, 2022. "The Association between the Burden of PM 2.5 -Related Neonatal Preterm Birth and Socio-Demographic Index from 1990 to 2019: A Global Burden Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(16), pages 1-20, August.
    9. Junjie Zhou & Tingting Fan, 2019. "Understanding the Factors Influencing Patient E-Health Literacy in Online Health Communities (OHCs): A Social Cognitive Theory Perspective," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(14), pages 1-12, July.
    10. Uday Patil & Uliana Kostareva & Molly Hadley & Jennifer A. Manganello & Orkan Okan & Kevin Dadaczynski & Philip M. Massey & Joy Agner & Tetine Sentell, 2021. "Health Literacy, Digital Health Literacy, and COVID-19 Pandemic Attitudes and Behaviors in U.S. College Students: Implications for Interventions," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(6), pages 1-14, March.
    11. Chia-Shiang Cheng & Yi-Jen Huang & Chien-An Sun & Chi An & Yu-Tien Chang & Chi-Ming Chu & Chi-Wen Chang, 2022. "Gender-Specific Determinants of eHealth Literacy: Results from an Adolescent Internet Behavior Survey in Taiwan," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(2), pages 1-11, January.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:socpsy:v:69:y:2023:i:2:p:467-475. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.