People with “binge-watching addiction” are more likely to be lonely

Addictive binge-watching behavior might stem from seeking escapism and emotional enhancement

2026-01-21

(Press-News.org) While many people binge-watch their favorite shows, binge-watching addiction is associated with loneliness, according to a study published January 21, 2026 in the open-access journal PLOS One by Xiaofan Yue and Xin Cui from Huangshan University in China.

COVID-19 drove many people indoors and onto the couch, driving concerns about mental health, especially as people were also isolated and distressed. Now, while many people have resumed daily activities, some people binge-watch to the point of addiction—experiencing obsession, increases in TV consumption, and negative impacts on daily life. To understand how binge-watching addiction might be related to loneliness, the authors of this study surveyed 551 adults who were big consumers of TV, watching TV series for at least 3.5 hours per day and seeing more than four episodes per week. They asked these participants questions to assess addictive behavior, loneliness and their motives for binge-watching.

Of the survey respondents, 334 (61%) met the criteria for binge-watching addiction. Among these respondents, increased loneliness was significantly correlated with higher levels of binge-watching addiction and loneliness, while those participants who did not meet the addiction criteria did not show the same association. The scientists therefore theorized that binge-watching addicts might have specific mindsets and motivations, distinct from participants who also watched a lot of TV but without any addiction.

When the scientists examined the motives for binge-watching addiction, they found an association between loneliness and both escapism and emotional enhancement motivations, suggesting that binge-watching addicts might be engaging both in the avoidance of negative situations as well as seeking to boost positive emotions. The authors therefore suggest that individuals experiencing higher levels of loneliness, seeking emotional fulfillment, or using binge-watching as an escape mechanism are more likely to exhibit binge-watching addiction.

This study could only show an association between addictive binge-watching and loneliness, with further research needed to determine if loneliness drives this behavior. Also, the researchers only examined TV series, and did not account for other problematic video streaming behaviors, for example via Youtube or Tiktok. Still, the findings suggest the possibility that some individuals might try to cope with social disconnection by increasing their media consumption to the point of binge-watching addiction.

The authors add: “This study advances our understanding of binge-watching by differentiating between addictive and non-addictive forms, demonstrating that loneliness significantly predicts binge-watching addiction, while escapism and emotional enhancement serve as dual pathways of emotion regulation.”

In your coverage, please use this URL to provide access to the freely available article in PLOS One: https://plos.io/3LrEDZg

Citation: Yue X, Cui X (2026) Binge-watching addiction as an emotion regulation way of coping loneliness. PLoS One 21(1): e0329853. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0329853

Author countries: China

Funding: This work was supported by the Humanities and Social Science Project of Anhui Provincial Education Department (Grant No. 2024AH052535). The funder had a role in providing funding support but no role in the preparation of the manuscript.

END

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Wild potato follows a path to domestication in the American Southwest

2026-01-21

Ancient people transported a wild relative of the common potato across the southwestern U.S., likely expanding the range of the species, according to a study published January 21, 2026 in the open-access journal PLOS One by Lisbeth Louderback from the University of Utah, U.S., and colleagues. This research provides new evidence that Indigenous people may have put the species on a path to domestication, while creating a unique cultural element in the Four Corners region. The Four Corners potato, Solanum jamesii, is a small, resilient, ...

General climate advocacy ad campaign received more public engagement compared to more-tailored ad campaign promoting sustainable fashion

2026-01-21

Researchers investigating the effectiveness of outdoor ads promoting climate change awareness and action found that a general message of climate emergency awareness received more QR code scans compared to a more-specific campaign focusing on sustainable fashion, according to a study published January 21, 2026 in the open-access journal PLOS Climate by Maxwell Boykoff from the University of Colorado Boulder, USA, and colleagues. Advertising can help shape public opinion, for better or worse. Climate advocates and climate change activists are now using advertisements to promote their messages to the public. In this study, Boykoff and colleagues ...

Medical LLMs may show real-world potential in identifying individuals with major depressive disorder using WhatsApp voice note recordings

2026-01-21

A new medical large language model (LLM) achieved over 91 percent accuracy in identifying female participants diagnosed with major depressive disorder after analyzing a short WhatsApp audio recording where participants described their week, according to a study published January 21, 2026 in the open-access journal PLOS Mental Health by Victor H. O. Otani, from Santa Casa de São Paulo School of Medical Sciences and Infinity Doctors Inc., Brazil, and colleagues. Major depressive disorder is a mental health condition that affects over 280 million people globally, and early detection can be critical for timely treatment. Here, Otani and colleagues used machine learning ...

Early translational study supports the role of high-dose inhaled nitric oxide as a potential antimicrobial therapy

2026-01-21

Overuse of antibiotics has accelerated the development of bacterial resistance to conventional drugs, a global health crisis projected to result in more than 10 million deaths annually by 2050. The multidrug-resistant bacterium Pseudomonas aeruginosa accounts for approximately one-fifth of hospital-acquired pneumonia cases and is associated with severe illness and increased mortality. Nitric oxide is a therapeutic gas that researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital, a founding member of the Mass ...

AI can predict preemies’ path, Stanford Medicine-led study shows

2026-01-21

An artificial intelligence-based tool can predict the medical trajectories of individual premature newborns from blood samples collected soon after they are born, a Stanford Medicine-led study has shown. The research, which will publish Jan. 21 in Science Translational Medicine, provides a new understanding of the complexity of premature birth, not as a single problem defined by early arrival but as several distinct conditions. The study is a step toward predicting and preventing complications of prematurity using treatments ...

A wild potato that changed the story of agriculture in the American Southwest

2026-01-21

Starchy residue preserved in ancient stone tools may rewrite the story of crop domestication in the American Southwest, according to new research led by the University of Utah. The Four Corners Potato (Solanum jamesii) has been an important cultural, nutritional and medicinal food staple across the Colorado Plateau for millennia. Despite its long history and contemporary use, the extent to which Indigenous people domesticated S. jamesii remains unknown. Previous genetic research has shown that the tubers were transported and intentionally cultivated far beyond its natural range—two crucial steps toward ...

Cancer’s super-enhancers may set the map for DNA breaks and repair: A key clue to why tumors become aggressive and genetically unstable

2026-01-21

New study shows that cancer damages its own DNA by pushing key genes to work too hard. Researchers found that the most powerful genetic “on switches” in cancer cells, called super-enhancers, drive unusually intense gene activity. That high gear creates stress on the DNA and can cause dangerous breaks. Cancer cells can often repair this damage, but the process is frequently error-prone, the repeated cycle of breaking and repairing can make these regions more prone to accumulating mutations over time. In short, the same mechanisms that help cancer grow quickly may also make its DNA more fragile, helping explain how tumors continue to evolve and, in some cases, ...

Prehistoric tool made from elephant bone is the oldest discovered in Europe

2026-01-21

A remarkable prehistoric hammer made from elephant bone, dating back nearly half a million years ago, has been uncovered in southern England and analysed by archaeologists from UCL and the Natural History Museum, London. It is the oldest elephant bone tool to ever be discovered in Europe and provides an extraordinary glimpse into the ingenuity of the early human ancestors who made it. The research, published in Science Advances, describes the roughly 500,000-year-old tool, and reveals the unexpectedly sophisticated craftsmanship and skill of the species responsible for making it, likely either early neanderthals or another species known as Homo heidelbergensis. ...

Mineralized dental plaque from the Iron Age provides insight into the diet of the Scythians

2026-01-21

Researchers have deciphered the diet of an important nomadic people in Eastern European history. By analyzing dental calculus, they have provided the first direct evidence that the diet of the Scythians included milk from various ruminants and horses. For centuries, the Scythians have been regarded as a nomadic horsemen people who roamed the vast steppes of Eurasia during the Iron Age. This image remains powerful to this day. In recent years, however, scientific research has challenged this simplified narrative. It shows that the so-called “Scythians” were not a uniform group, but consisted of a diverse, multi-ethnic population with different geographical origins. ...

Salty facts: takeaways have more salt than labels claim

2026-01-21

Some of the UK’s most popular takeaway dishes contain more salt than their labels indicate, with some meals containing more than recommended daily guidelines, new research has shown. Scientists found 47% of takeaway foods that were analysed in the survey exceeded their declared salt levels, with curries, pasta and pizza dishes often failing to match what their menus claim. While not all restaurants provided salt levels on their menus, some meals from independent restaurants in Reading contained more than 10g of salt in a single portion. The UK ...

People with “binge-watching addiction” are more likely to be lonely

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES: