Using the drift diffusion model to examine relationships between mental health and media selection dynamics

Abstract A substantial body of research has investigated how people’s transient affective state influences their media selection, as well as how selected media influences subsequent affective states. However, most of these studies are conducted on healthy adults. Therefore, it is unclear how people’s mental health status (a chronic affective state) influences their media preferences. Using a computational model that captures decision making dynamics, we linked individual’s media selection with mental health measures of depression, anxiety, and loneliness. Replicating our earlier work, we found that people have an overall preference for negatively-valanced entertainment media. This preference is moderated by loneliness, such that lonelier individuals have a stronger preference for negatively valenced media. Additionally, individuals with moderate to severe depression and anxiety symptoms prefer lower-arousal media when compared to healthy individuals. These results indicate that there is a relationship between maladjusted mental health and media selection. Our project begins to offer mechanistic clarity on how mental health challenges and affective characteristics of media influence an individual’s media selection dynamics. We anticipate our project to be a starting point for potential media interventions focused on the dynamic process of media selection.