Towards a cross-cultural assessment of binge-watching: Psychometric evaluation of the “watching TV series motives” and “binge-watching engagement and symptoms” questionnaires across nine languages

Flayelle, Maèva; Castro-Calvo, Jesús; Vögele, Claus; Astur, Robert S.; Ballester‐Arnal, Rafael; Challet-Bouju, Gaëlle; Brand, Matthias; Cárdenas, Georgina; Devos, Gaëtan; Elkholy, Hussien; Grall‐Bronnec, Marie; James, Richard J. E.; Martínez, Martha; Khazaal, Yasser; Valizadeh-Haghi, Saeideh; King, Daniel L.; Liu, Yueheng; Löchner, Christine; Steins‐Loeber, Sabine; Long, Jiang; Potenza, Marc N.; Rahmatizadeh, Shahabedin; Schimmenti, Adriano; Stein, Dan J.; Tóth‐Király, István; Tunney, Richard J.; Wang, Yingying; Zhai, Zu Wei; Maurage, Pierre; Billieux, Joël

doi:10.1016/j.chb.2020.106410

Cited by 18 publications

(16 citation statements)

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“…Indeed, individuals' adaptive reaction to negative life circumstances might be facilitated by web-related activities, which can positively contribute to alleviate negative feelings, even though sometimes paving the way for problematic online engagement (71). It has also been demonstrated that while emotional enhancement and enrichment motivation for watching TV series is more strongly related to non-problematic watching behavior, coping-escapism motive is usually more strongly associated with problematic patterns of TV series watching (32,62). Interestingly, in the current sample loss of control over TV series watching was positively predicted by anxiety symptoms and coping/escapism motivation for watching TV series, but also by emotional enhancement and social drivers.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The extent of TV series watching involvement and problematic binge-watching was assessed using the Italian version of the 40item Binge-Watching Engagement and Symptoms Questionnaire [BWESQ - (32); Italian version by (62)]. Relevant to the present research, only two subscales of the questionnaire were used in this study as reflecting adaptive vs. maladaptive TV series watching: engagement (e.g., "Watching TV series is one of my favorite hobbies.")…”

Section: Watching Tv Series Engagement and Loss Of Controlmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The Italian version of the Watching TV Series Motives Questionnaire [WTSMQ - (32); Italian version by (62)] was used to assess TV series watching motivations. It is a 22-item scale with four core dimensions: coping/escapism (e.g., "I watch TV series to escape reality and seek shelter in fictional worlds.…”

Section: Watching Tv Series Motivesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Is Watching TV Series an Adaptive Coping Strategy During the COVID-19 Pandemic? Insights From an Italian Community Sample

et al. 2021

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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 (M = 31.70, SD = 10.81; 71.5% female) from all over Italy were recruited (from 1st to 30th April 2020) through advertisements via 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 (R2 = 0.56; p < 0.001) and problematic (R2 = 0.33; p < 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.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Watching Tv Series Engagement and Loss Of Controlmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Is Watching TV Series an Adaptive Coping Strategy During the COVID-19 Pandemic? Insights From an Italian Community Sample

et al. 2021

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“…Even before the pandemic, escapism has been linked with internet addiction, especially as escapism allows individuals to seek comfort online ( Chen & Nath, 2016 ). For example, an aspect of internet addiction is problematic binge watching linked to loss of control, however an incentive of this is also considered to be escapism, in this case, it is a maladaptive form of coping to manage emotional problems ( Flayelle et al, 2020 ). Our study further found that loneliness, self-esteem and psychological distress predicted problematic internet use in all the four countries.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Internet use during COVID-19 lockdown among young people in low- and middle-income countries: Role of psychological wellbeing

Fernandes¹,

Uzun²,

Aydin³

et al. 2021

Addictive Behaviors Reports

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Problematic internet use in adolescents has been shown to significantly increase over the past few years, with COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns reinforcing this phenomena globally. We sought to explore whether problematic internet use in specific countries was related to emotional well-being and importantly whether this is predicted by psychological distress. There is a growing number of studies showing that problematic internet use is increasingly prevalent in countries with emerging economies, however we have yet to find out to what extent other factors are influencing this behaviour in adolescents and young people. This study invited young people from countries such India, Mexico, Philippines and Turkey to complete a set of self-reports on their daily internet habits, social media use, alongside questions on psychological distress, self-esteem, loneliness and escapism. A total of 1182 young people aged between 16 and 25 years old completed these questionnaires online. The results showed that there were significant difference in problematic internet use scores among adolescents in the Philippines and Turkey. More specifically, social media use was significantly higher amongst young people from the Philippines whereas gaming addiction was significantly high in the Turkish sample. These findings also revealed that psychological distress, loneliness, and low self-esteem consistently predicted problematic internet use. Taken together these results emphasise that there are several factors underlying growing figures of problematic internet use in young people, these factors include emotional distress, need for escapism, loneliness, and social media use, however, going forward more nuanced cultural differences should also be considered.

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“…6,12,13 However, in light of the contemporary scientific debate on the risk for overpathologising everyday life, caution is required with interpreting excessive behaviours under the lens of problematic outcomes rather than a healthy and possibly positive reinforcement operated by the same behaviour. 3,4,14 Binge and problematic watching during the COVID-19 pandemic…”

Section: Addictive Versus Problematic Behavioursmentioning

confidence: 99%

Factor structure, reliability and criterion-related validity of the English version of the Problematic Series Watching Scale

et al. 2022

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Background Psychological research in the past decade has investigated the psychosocial implications of problematic use of on-demand online video streaming services, particularly series watching. Yet, a psychometric measure of problematic series watching in English is not available. Aims The present study aimed to test the factor structure, reliability and criterion-related validity of the English version of the Problematic Series Watching Scale, a six-item self-report assessing problematic series watching, based on the biopsychosocial components model of addiction. Method Participants were recruited from two UK university student samples. Study 1 (n = 333) comprised confirmatory factor analysis, reliability tests and item response theory analyses to test the original unidimensional model and investigate each item's levels of discrimination and information. Study 2 (n = 209) comprised correlation analyses to test the criterion-related validity of the scale. Results There was a good fit of the theoretical model of the scale to the data (Comparative Fit Index = 0.998, Root Mean Square Error of Approximation = 0.024 [90% CI 0.000–0.093], Standardised Root Mean square Residual = 0.048), satisfactory reliability (ω = 0.79) and item levels of discrimination and information. The scale positively correlated with time spent watching series (rs = 0.26, P < 0.001) and negative affect (rs = 0.43, P < 0.001), and correlated negatively with positive affect (rs = −0.12, P > 0.05), mental well-being (rs = −0.25, P < 0.001) and sleep quality (rs = −0.14, P < 0.05). Conclusions Results are discussed in relation to the ongoing debate on binge watching and series watching in the context of positive reinforcement versus problematic behaviour.

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Towards a cross-cultural assessment of binge-watching: Psychometric evaluation of the “watching TV series motives” and “binge-watching engagement and symptoms” questionnaires across nine languages

Cited by 18 publications

References 73 publications

Is Watching TV Series an Adaptive Coping Strategy During the COVID-19 Pandemic? Insights From an Italian Community Sample

Is Watching TV Series an Adaptive Coping Strategy During the COVID-19 Pandemic? Insights From an Italian Community Sample

Internet use during COVID-19 lockdown among young people in low- and middle-income countries: Role of psychological wellbeing

Factor structure, reliability and criterion-related validity of the English version of the Problematic Series Watching Scale

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