STUDY OF THE INFLUENCE OF COVID-19 REPORTING MEDIA ON THEMENTAL HEALTH OF INDONESIAN COMMUNITY WITH STRUCTURAL EQUATION MODEL (SEM) APPROACH

Abstract

The coronavirus outbreak phenomenon has become a headline that colors the daily news
that the World Health Organization (WHO) identifies the virus as a novel Coronaviruses
disease (Covid-19) designated a global pandemic. This pandemic has spread to almost all
countries globally and infected millions of people in it. This pandemic has spread to almost
all countries globally and infected millions of people in it. In a short time, almost all news
media reported about the Covid-19 pandemic starting from prevention, positive diagnosed
characteristics of Covid-19, and news of the impact that will be felt if someone is known
to be affected by Covid-19. The news that circulated not only happened but also much
fake news emerged, which caused more pressure on the community. The World Health
Organization (WHO) identifies that many of the rumors and misinformation that spread
fear in this community mostly come from social media. Therefore, there must be an effort
made by a study to find out and test whether there is an influence of the Covid-19 news
media on the mental health of the Indonesian people. Based on the results of SEM
calculations obtained, media factors that concern mental health are the role of media,
content media, media frequency, and media sources. These four things have contributed
to mental health factors, namely anxiety, and depression. Depression and anxiety are
mental health factors.