Media Research: Movies’ PTSD Portrayal and Stereotypes

By: Zeina Fakhreddine, Eman Chaiban, Dana Ghanem and Tanya Ghawi

The following paper examines the relationship between media and it’s portrayal of the mental health disorder, commonly known as PTSD, or Posttraumatic stress disorder. Four undergraduate students selected six different movies and carefully coded, using a t-test, a number of 100 scenes to find a significant relationship between the five variables and the characters of the movies. The tests revealed that psychological symptoms are frequently demonstrated in both the different genders and age groups.

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, commonly known as PTSD, is the aftermath of traumatic events that occur as a result of exposure to external life-threatening events. Mass media play an important role in promoting different perceptions of a certain subject. Media portrayed PTSD patients as dangerous, ignorant and abnormal (Hunter, 2014).

Digital media are growing at a fast rate causing traditional media to no longer provide full emotional support for those with mental disorders. PTSD patients have no choice but to refer to online communities to find that support (Wu, 2013).

Over exposure to large amounts of violence in real life and media has demonstrated a strong association to “desensitization” among the youth. Those exposed to higher levels of violence in real life demonstrated more distress and PTSD symptoms than those exposed to violence in action movies (Mrug et al., 2015).

PTSD among Different Genders

Females showed higher rates of PTSD than males, even though they were exposed to the same traumatic event. Females displayed higher levels of depression and anxiety, while men displayed hostility and alcohol/drug abuse (Tolin, 2006). The negative stereotypes of PTSD patients may represent a certain type of reflection to the way both genders act. Five common characteristics given to such patients are “the homicidal maniac”, “narcissistic parasite”, “female patient as seductress”, “rebellious free spirit”, and “specially gifted” (Hanley, 2015).

The Effect of Media on Mental Health

The advent of the media has set forth profound changes with regard to the attitudes and behaviors of individuals whom engage with the media. Over the years, media have been used in many ways and have had different effects and outcomes, some positive and some negative. A gap remains with regard to the effect of the media and mental health. This gap allows for ample opportunity to study the effect of a media campaign on a psychological disorder such as PTSD.

A media campaign targeting African Americans over an 11-week period consisted of a five spot PTSD rotation that offered recommendations about preventive behavior and healthy attitudes regarding stress, sadness and frustration, resulting in a strong correlational relationship between increases in campaign attention, PTSD beliefs and PTSD preventive behaviors. Media somehow shaped a long run effect on PTSD beliefs and preventive behaviors. Namely, the effect was perceived as positive on certain beliefs and preventive behaviors (Beauodoin, 2009).

Media Violence and its Effect on Children

Violence in media is a widely studied subject in social and behavioral sciences. Parents and experts took children’s and adolescents’ exposure to harmful scenes in media into concern (Jipgeup et al., 2003). Children are more likely to suffer from PTSD due to disclosure on television.

Exposure to new media and widespread consumption and distribution of mass media have put forth a debate on how films, television, music videos, video games and now the internet have an extreme effect on the youth’s behavior and social development. Yet, parents never check the video games’ ratings before approval, nor do they restrain the amount of hours their children spend playing these video games (Marie-Claude Jipgeup & Kathy Phillips, 2003). However, children’s exposure to actual violence on television and the internet has more impact on their mental health than the unreal violence found in video games and cartoons. Political violence such as terrorism, war and ethnic-political violence is affecting the youth’s mental health all around the world (Gvirsman et al., 2014).

Falsehood of Media Framing

Deceptions that may have an impact on people’s perspectives about mental health issues and patients have been set forth by news media’s framing of PTSD. Although there are several studies that discuss PTSD as a mental health disorder, only two studies focused on the portrayal of PTSD in the media. The first study on the total amount of PTSD coverage in the New York Times has shown a positive pattern in the measure of PTSD coverage that was watched (Houston, Spialek & Perreault, 2015). Nevertheless, this expansion in the measure of general coverage was commonly determined by particular occasions. Thus, a significant part of the PTSD news coverage in the New York Times seems to be occasion driven news (Houston, Spialek & Perreault, 2015). The second study tackled national newspapers that were engaged with more elevated amounts of approach dialog resulted in more prominent recurrence than local newspapers that will probably distribute more stories giving more importance on the effect of PTSD on people and resident communities (Wu, 2016). Both national and local newspapers expanded the amount of coverage on PTSD altogether after the start of the Iraqi War in 2003. National newspapers and local newspapers reported similarities in perceiving dominant issues towards PTSD with fluctuations in the methods for introducing the points to the general population (Wu, 2016).

RQ1: Do movies portray PTSD among different genders?

• How often do different genders convey physiological symptoms of PTSD?
• How often do different genders convey psychological symptoms of PTSD?
• How often do different genders convey behavioral symptoms of PTSD?

RQ2: How do movies portray PTSD differently in adults and non-adults?

• How often do adults and non-adults portray physiological symptoms of PTSD
• How often do adults and non-adults portray psychological symptoms of PTSD
• How often do adults and non-adults portray behavioral symptoms of PTSD

Method

Sample

The sample consisted of six movies about PTSD. Using informal research, the first six movies that portray PTSD were selected. Typed in the search engine was “Top 10 movies that portray PTSD.” The movies monitored are American Sniper, Hide and Seek, The Perks of Being a Wallflower, The Stanford Prison Experiment, Iron Man 3 and Mystic River. Four undergraduate students coded different PTSD symptoms portrayed among characters of different genders and age groups. Coders considered the scenes to count the PTSD portrayals in these movies. The number of scenes that demonstrated PTSD symptoms was equal to 107 (N=107), but the coders had to stop counting after reaching a total number of 100 scenes (N=100).

Coding

Four undergraduate coders thoroughly examined six different movies and monitored differences among this disorder and its portrayal. The variables tested were: the movie, genders, age groups and categories of PTSD symptoms.

Results

RQ1: Do movies portray PTSD among different genders?

• How often do different genders convey physiological symptoms of PTSD?

H1: Males show more physiological symptoms of PTSD than females.

H0: There is no relationship between gender and physiological symptoms.

The total number of males and females seen in the scenes were 100, with only 30 of them showing physiological symptoms. The maximum number of physiological symptoms demonstrated by one character was 5. Using the T-test, the test showed that there was no relationship between the frequency of physiological symptoms among males (M=2.22, S.D = 1.086) and females (M=2.33, S.D = .577), . The hypothesis was no supported and we failed to reject the null.

• How often do different genders convey psychological symptoms of PTSD?

H1: Males show more psychological symptoms of PTSD than females.

H0: There is no relationship between gender and psychological symptoms.

The total number of males and females seen in the scenes were 100, with only 54 of them showing psychological symptoms. The maximum number of psychological symptoms demonstrated by one character was 5. Using the T-test, the test showed that there was a significant difference in the frequency of psychological symptoms among males (M = 1.77, SD = 1.118) and females (M = 1.30, SD = .483), . The hypothesis was supported and we reject the null.

• How often do different genders convey behavioral symptoms of PTSD?

H1: Males show more behavioral symptoms of PTSD than females.

H0: There is no relationship between gender and behavioral symptoms.

The total number of males and females seen in the scenes were 100, with only 55 of them showing behavioral symptoms. The maximum number of behavioral symptoms demonstrated by one character was 3. Using the T-test, the test showed that there was a significant difference in the frequency of behavioral symptoms among males (M = males (M = 1.26, SD = .607) and females (M = 1.00, SD = .000), . The hypothesis was supported and we reject the null.

RQ2: How do movies portray PTSD differently in adults and non-adults?

• How often do adults and non-adults portray physiological symptoms of PTSD

H1: Physiological symptoms are seen in adults more than non-adults.

H0: There is no relationship between age and physiological symptoms.

The total number of adults and non-adults seen in the scenes were 100, with only 30 of them showing physiological symptoms. The maximum number of physiological symptoms demonstrated by one character was 5. Using the T-test, the test showed that there was a no significant difference in the frequency of physiological symptoms among adults (M=2.27, S.D = 1.002) and non-adults (M=2, S.D = 1.414), The hypothesis was not supported and we failed to reject the null.

• How often do adults and non-adults portray psychological symptoms of PTSD

H1: Psychological symptoms are seen in adults more than non-adults

H0: There is no relationship between age and psychological symptoms.

The total number of adults and non-adults seen in the scenes were 100, with only 54 of them showing psychological symptoms. The maximum number of psychological symptoms demonstrated by one character was 5. Using the T-test, the test showed that there was a significant difference in the frequency of psychological symptoms among adults (M = 1.36, SD = .699) and non-adults (M = 2.19, SD = 1.289), . The hypothesis was supported and we reject the null.

• How often do adults and non-adults portray behavioral symptoms of PTSD

H1: Behavioral symptoms are seen in adults more than non-adults.

H0: There is no relationship between age and Behavioral symptoms.

The total number of adults and non-adults seen in the scenes were 100, with only 55 of them showing behavioral symptoms. The maximum number of behavioral symptoms demonstrated by one character was 3. Using the T-test, the test showed that there was a significant difference in the frequency of behavioral symptoms among adults (M=1.19, S.D = .525) and non-adults (M=1.26, S.D = .653), .The hypothesis was not supported and we failed to reject the null.

Discussion and conclusion

The coders encountered several limitations among them are the limited literature reviews and studies on media and PTSD portrayal. Difficulty in examining psychological and physiological symptoms gave way to another limitation, where the coders had to watch the movies two or three times to be able to count the symptoms.

When the coders tested to see if there was a relationship between gender and the frequency of PTSD symptoms seen, only two symptoms, psychological and behavioral, showed an actual difference among males and females. In addition, when the coders tested to see if there was a relationship between the age groups and the frequency of PTSD symptoms seen, only psychological symptoms demonstrated an actual difference among adults and non-adults. Therefore, this study shows that the media show more psychological symptoms among different genders and age groups.

References:

Beaudoin, C. (2009). Evaluating a media campaign that targeted PTSD after Hurricane Katrina. Health Communication, 24(6), 515–523.

DeLong, H. (2012). Social Support in PTSD: An Analysis of Gender, Race, and Trauma Type. Student Pulse Journal Quest, 8(2) .

Hanley, E. (2015). Perception of Mental Illness Based Upon its Portrayal in Film . University of Central Florida Libraries.

Houston, B. J., Spialek, M. L., & Perreault, M. F. (2015). Coverage of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder in the New York Times. Journal of Health Communication.

Hunter, M. (2014, April 24). The Military, the Media, and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder: An Analysis of Media Framing and Post-9/22 Service Members’ Decisions to Seek Help.

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Marie-Claude Jipgeup & Kathy Phillips. (2003). The Context of Violence for Children of Color: Violence in the Community and in the Media. The Journal of Negro Education, 4–72.

Mrug, S., Madan, A., Cook, E., Wright, R. . (2016, May 1). Emotional and Physiological Desensitization to Real-Life and Movie Violence . HHS Author Manuscripts.

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Shira Dvir Gvirsman, L. Rowell Huesman, Eric F. Dubow, Simha F. Landau, Khalil Shikaki, and Paul Boxer. (2014). The Effects of Mediated Exposure to Ethic-Political Violence on Middle East Youth’s Subsequent Post-Traumatic Stress Symptoms and Agressive Behavior. Communication Research, 961–990.

Tolin, D. & Foa, E. . (2006). Sex Differences in Trauma and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: A Quantitative Review of 25 Years of Research. American Psychological Association , 132(6), 959–992.

Wu, L. (2013, May). Tell It if You Can: A Study of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder in Newspapers and Military Blogs.

Wu, L. (2016). US media representation of post-traumatic stress disorder: a comparative study of regional news and national newspapers. Journal of Mental Health.

Appendix:

All group members were able to divide the paper work equally among them. They wrote the abstract, introduction, literature review, methodology and coded the movies all together. Group members negotiated about certain difficulties they encountered while working such as the codebook, but eventually ended up overcoming them in a wise manner. No conflicts occurred among group members regarding meetings or failure to accomplish the task assigned.