Boursier Valentina, Musetti Alessandro, Gioia Francesca, Flayelle Maèva, Billieux Joël, Schimmenti Adriano
Department of Humanities, University of Naples Federico II, Naples, Italy.
Department of Humanities, Social Sciences and Cultural Industries, University of Parma, Parma, Italy.
Front Psychiatry. 2021 Apr 21;12:599859. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2021.599859. eCollection 2021.
Social distancing and lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic substantially impacted individuals' daily habits and well-being. Within such a context, digital technology may provide a welcome source of alternative forms of connection and entertainment. Indeed, streaming services showed a remarkable increase in membership subscriptions throughout the period considered. However, excessive involvement in watching TV series has recently become a subject of scholarly concern as it may represent an emerging form of addictive behavior with the features of what has been labeled as "binge-watching" (i.e., watching multiple episodes of TV series in a single session). The current study aimed to assess TV series watching behaviors and related motivations, as well as their relationships with depression, stress and anxiety, in a sample of Italian adults during the COVID-19 lockdown. Specifically, we aimed to explore which patterns of motivations and emotional states influenced either a high but healthy engagement in watching TV series, or promoted problematic and uncontrolled watching behavior under such circumstances. A total of 715 adults ( = 31.70, = 10.81; 71.5% female) from all over Italy were recruited (from 1st to 30th April 2020) through advertisements social media platforms of Italian university communities and other online groups. Two multiple hierarchical regression analyses were performed with non-problematic and problematic TV series watching set as dependent variables. Results showed that people spent more time watching TV series during the pandemic lockdown, especially women who also reported higher levels of anxiety and stress than men. Moreover, both non-problematic ( = 0.56; < 0.001) and problematic ( = 0.33; < 0.001) TV series watching behaviors were equally induced by anxiety symptoms and escapism motivation, thereby suggesting that watching TV series during the COVID-19 lockdown probably served as a recovery strategy to face such a stressful situation. Finally, our findings also suggest that enrichment motives may protect from uncontrolled and potentially addictive watching behaviors. These findings, therefore, hold important implications, particularly for avoiding the over-pathologization of excessive involvement in online activities emerging as a result of specific distressing situations.
由于新冠疫情实施的社交距离措施和封锁措施对个人的日常习惯和幸福感产生了重大影响。在这种背景下，数字技术可能成为一种受欢迎的替代联系方式和娱乐方式的来源。事实上，在整个考察期间，流媒体服务的会员订阅量显著增加。然而，最近过度沉迷于观看电视剧已成为学术关注的话题，因为它可能代表了一种新兴的成瘾行为形式，具有被称为“ binge-watching”（即一次性观看多集电视剧）的特征。本研究旨在评估意大利成年人在新冠疫情封锁期间的电视剧观看行为及相关动机，以及它们与抑郁、压力和焦虑的关系。具体而言，我们旨在探究哪些动机模式和情绪状态会影响在观看电视剧时的高度但健康的投入，或者在这种情况下促使出现有问题的、不受控制的观看行为。通过意大利大学社区的社交媒体平台和其他在线群组上的广告，从意大利各地招募了715名成年人（年龄均值 = 31.70，标准差 = 10.81；71.5%为女性）（2020年4月1日至30日）。以无问题的和有问题的电视剧观看为因变量进行了两次多重层次回归分析。结果显示，在疫情封锁期间人们花更多时间观看电视剧，尤其是女性，她们报告的焦虑和压力水平也高于男性。此外，焦虑症状和逃避主义动机同样会引发无问题的（β = 0.56；p < 0.001）和有问题的（β = 0.33；p < 0.001）电视剧观看行为，这表明在新冠疫情封锁期间观看电视剧可能是应对这种压力状况的一种恢复策略。最后，我们的研究结果还表明，充实动机可能有助于防止出现不受控制的、潜在成瘾性的观看行为。因此，这些发现具有重要意义，特别是对于避免将因特定困境而出现的过度参与在线活动过度病理化。
