Birth Control and Depression: Science VS. the Media

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Publication Type honors thesis
School or College College of Humanities
Department Communication
Creator Gaykowski, Logan Sara
Title Birth Control and Depression: Science VS. the Media
Date 2017
Description Previous research has shown that the media can have a large effect on how readers internalize news and information, as well as on their choices, opinions and behaviors. Research has also shown that the media often reports scientific findings inaccurately or not in their entire form, providing readers with misleading information. The present research explores the accuracy of media reporting about a 2016 JAMA Psychiatry intensive study regarding hormonal contraception usage in females and an association to depression. Through a qualitative content analysis of 44 media articles covering this study, I explored how the media reported the study, including the accuracies and discrepancies, and ultimately what this information could mean for readers-specifically females who are currently or considering using hormonal birth control. Overall, this study found that the media reports inflated the risk involved and conflated all the contraception types into one broad category.
Type Text
Publisher University of Utah
Language eng
Rights Management (c) Logan Sara Gaykowski
Format Medium application/pdf
Permissions Reference URL https://collections.lib.utah.edu/ark:/87278/s6dr8mdp
ARK ark:/87278/s657740s
Setname ir_htoa
ID 1636679
Reference URL https://collections.lib.utah.edu/ark:/87278/s657740s
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