Impulsivity and Difficulties in Emotional Regulation as Predictors of Binge-Watching Behaviours

Abstract

Recently, the question about the potentially problematic characteristics of binge-watching behaviours has been raised in the contemporary literature. Binge-watching is a highly popular behaviour that involves watching multiple episodes of TV series in one sitting. Studies show that binge-watching can be both an entertaining, but also a potentially problematic, behaviour. Therefore, this research aimed to answer the question about how impulsivity, difficulties in emotional regulation, and one's motivations around why they want to watch a TV series predict problematic binge-watching among a group of Polish young adults. The research group consisted of 645 participants. The following tools were then used to measure the study variables: the Impulsive Behaviour Scale, the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale, the Viewing Motivation Scale, and the Questionnaire of Excessive Binge-watching. Furthermore, a regression analysis was performed on the responses to each measure in order to answer our research questions. Our results show that a lack of premeditation, impulse control difficulties, and having an escapist motivation are all significant predictors of problematic binge-watching behaviours. Furthermore, one's motivations around dealing with loneliness, their motivations around how to best spend their free time, as well as their informative and entertaining motivations were also found to be significant predictors of problematic binge-watching behaviours.

‘This is the last episode’: the association between problematic binge‐watching and loneliness, emotion regulation, and sleep‐related factors in poor sleepers

“…As stated above, these psychological and sleep-related aspects (i.e., loneliness, emotional dysregulation, daytime sleepiness) are frequently experienced by both poor sleepers (Griffin et al, 2020;Tucker et al, 2010) and binge-watchers (Starosta et al, 2021). We can assume that these factors could cause a pathological As regards maladaptive motives behind binge-watching, we also observed a predictive role of male gender and alcohol frequency.…”

“…In particular, we included the sociodemographic variables in the first step, as they were suspected to be strongly related to the dependent variables (Flayelle et al, 2019a ). Then, we included the psychological variables in the second step to estimate their predictive value after accounting for sociodemographic variables, given their correlation with binge‐watching behaviour (Starosta et al, 2021 ). Finally, we included the sleep‐related variables in the third and last step to explore their potential contribution to explaining the problematic aspects of binge‐watching in addition to the sociodemographics and psychological variables.…”

“…Thus, problematic binge-watching, like other addictive behaviours, can be a strategy to regulate aversive emotions such as loneliness (Flayelle et al, 2019a;Rubenking & Bracken, 2018). A recent study by Starosta et al (2021) found that difficulties in emotion regulation were significant predictors of problematic binge-watching.…”

The relationship between adolescent emotion dysregulation and problematic technology use: Systematic review of the empirical literature

“…The longitudinal results of Donald et al (2020) point out that teaching adolescents general emotion regulation skills may not be as effective in reducing compulsive Internet use as more direct approaches of limiting the use of the internet. Starosta, Izydorczyk, Sitnik-Warchulska, and Lizinczyk (2021) identified a lack of premeditation, impulse control difficulties, and escapist motivation as significant predictors of problematic binge-watching behaviors .…”

Binge-watching as one of the new emerging behaviors in the COVID-19 era: Is it dangerous?

“… 13 The results show that binge-watching can be an entertaining behavior, but it can also potentially cause problems. 11 , 14 Excessive use and lack of self-control can lead to addictive behavior that spirals out of control. 3 , 4 , 15–17 This thing impacts the psychological and mental health of the individuals.…”