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Abstract: 

Children and adolescents today grow up in a media-saturated environment with an almost constant input of information from external sources. This study builds on existing research to further examine the complex relationship between recreational media use and four indicators of emotional health—sadness, boredom, getting in trouble, and happiness at school. It analyzes data from a nationally representative sample of 1,703 U.S. eight to 18 year olds, with bivariate associations describing the relationship between each emotional health indicator and recreational media use. Multiple linear regression tested the association between all four emotional health indicators and recreational media use. In bivariate analyses, all four emotional health indicators were positively associated with recreational media use—that is, individuals self-reporting higher levels of emotional distress also had higher levels of recreational media use. The results of the regression model showed that only getting in trouble remained significantly associated with recreational media use. The article discusses suggestions for future research in the context of these results, including future measurement directions and clinical implications.

Keywords: Adolescent media use, sadness, getting in trouble, negative affect

Affiliations:  1: University of South Carolina; 2: University of South Carolina.