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Genre-Specific Television Use, Depression-Related Health Beliefs, and Help-Seeking Intention: A Group Comparison by Depressive Symptom Level

  • Health Communication Research
  • 2026, 25(2), pp.35~78
  • DOI : 10.24172/hcr.2026.25.2.35
  • Publisher : Korea Health Communication Association
  • Research Area : Social Science > Journalism and Broadcasting > Communication
  • Received : June 19, 2026
  • Accepted : August 14, 2026
  • Published : August 31, 2026

Hyo Jung Kim 1,  Sojung Kim 2,  Sungwook Hwang 1

1부산대학교
2경북대학교

Accredited

ABSTRACT

Grounded in Cultivation Theory and the Health Belief Model, this study empirically examines how television use is associated with depression-related health beliefs and help-seeking intention. Specifically, the study analyzes the structural relationships among genre-specific television exposure, perceived severity, perceived susceptibility, perceived benefits and perceived barriers regarding depression treatment, and help-seeking intention. It further investigates whether these relationships differ according to individuals’ levels of depressive symptoms (measured by PHQ-2). An online survey was conducted with a nationwide sample of 1,140 Korean adults in 2025. Structural equation modeling and multi-group analyses were employed to test the proposed model and hypotheses. The results showed that perceived benefits of treatment were consistently and positively associated with help-seeking intention in both groups, whereas perceived barriers were negatively associated with help-seeking intention only in the low-depression group. Perceived severity and perceived susceptibility were not significantly associated with help-seeking intention in either group. Television news viewing was positively associated with perceived severity, perceived susceptibility, and perceived benefits in both groups. In contrast, drama and lifestyle/infotainment program viewing showed significant associations with health beliefs only in the low-depression group. In addition, lifestyle/infotainment program viewing showed a direct positive association with help-seeking intention in both groups. These findings suggest that genre-specific television use may be differently associated with depression-related health beliefs depending on audience vulnerability, highlighting the importance of considering depressive symptom levels in understanding media–belief linkages. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

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