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El Impacto Psicológico de la Guerra Contra el Narcotráfico en Periodistas Mexicanos

2014; National University of Colombia; Volume: 23; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês

10.15446/rcp.v23n1.37640

2344-8644

Rogelio Flores Morales, Verónica Reyes Pérez, Lucy María Reidl Martínez,

Suicide and Self-Harm Studies

Mexican journalists (N=140) answered five psychometric instruments aimed at identifying symptoms of anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress, as well as their levels of alcohol and tobacco consumption. Data collection was carried out in the national context of the war against drug-trafficking, in which acts of extreme violence are committed on a daily basis (murders, massacres, decapitations, etc.). The results indicate that journalists who cover drug-trafficking and organized crime news obtain significantly higher scores than those who work on other issues. This suggests that news coverage of drug-trafficking is a psychological risk factor that should be taken into account for the design of public policies in Mexico.