I feel addicted to watching TV series: association between binge-watching and mental health

Francesca Favieri; Giuseppe Forte; Renata Tambelli; Manuela Tomai; Maria Casagrande

doi:10.7717/peerj.15796

I feel addicted to watching TV series: association between binge-watching and mental health

PeerJ. 2023 Aug 8:11:e15796. doi: 10.7717/peerj.15796. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Francesca Favieri^#¹, Giuseppe Forte^#¹, Renata Tambelli¹, Manuela Tomai¹, Maria Casagrande¹

Affiliation

¹ Department of Dynamic, Clinical Psychology and Health, "Sapienza" University of Rome, Rome, Italy.

^# Contributed equally.

Abstract

Background: Binge-watching (BW) is the consecutive viewing of three or more episodes of the same series in one sitting. Although some negative effects on mental health were evidenced, the continuum of BW from leisure activity to problematic behavior is still unclear. This study aimed to analyze mental health (depression, trait anxiety, social anxiety, impulsivity, alexithymia) of people involved in different expressions of BW.

Methods: A cross-sectional survey collected data from 482 respondents. According to a validated BW questionnaire, participants were divided into Problematic BW, Moderate BW, Non-BW, and No-viewer, and differences between groups were tested on psychological dimensions assessed via standardized questionnaires evaluating: trait and social anxiety, depression, impulsivity, and emotional dysregulation.

Results: An association between problematic BW and worse mental health conditions was evidenced, and a positive effect of non-problematic BW was supported. A negative linear trend from the BW as a leisure activity to problematic BW was marked, indicating how a possible maladaptive behavior orientation of BW in specific mental health conditions could be figured out as a behavioral addiction.

Keywords: Anxiety; Behavioral addiction; Binge watching; Depression; Emotional regulation; Impulsivity; Mental health.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Anxiety
Behavior, Addictive* / epidemiology
Cross-Sectional Studies
Humans
Impulsive Behavior
Mental Health*

Grants and funding

This work was supported by the grant “Bandi di Ateneo” of Sapienza University of Rome (number RP11916B79284148). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.