Binge watching and mental well-being: Study on emerging adults

With the advent of video on demand streaming services such as Netflix, Disney Hotstar, Amazon Prime Video, Sony Liv, binge watching has become a common media behaviour among the emerging adults, particularly aged 18 to 34. Binge watching, habit of watching TV shows or movies consecutively on internet driven platforms at one’s own discretion, is a double-edge sword it could enhance viewer’s well-being through perceived autonomy whereas excessive indulgence in binge watching could reduce well-being through negative emotions such as guilt and regret. The purpose behind the present study was to determine the relationship between binge watching and mental well-being. In this study, data were collected with help of questionnaires such as BWESQ (Binge watching engagement and symptoms questionnaire) and MHC-SF (Mental Health Continuum-Short Form) while correlation, t-test and regression were employed to analyse the data. It was found that binge watching was significantly and negatively related to mental well-being and problematic binge watching significantly and negatively predict mental well-being. Further, results showed that males tend to engage in binge watching more than females and that males generally exhibit better mental well-being compared to females. This study highlights that complex relationship between user’s mental health and binge watching behaviour, which ranges from recreational to addictive on a continuum.