Examining Relationships Between Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Severity and Types of Media/Technology Usage

Objective: Psychopathology, cyberpsychology, and mass media theories link psychological symptoms, such as posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), to increased media and technology usage (MTU). Given limited research in this area, we uniquely examined if specific MTU facets were associated with PTSD symptom severity. Method: A sample of 404 socioeconomically diverse adults (M-age = 35.89; 57.4% female) was recruited from Amazon's Mechanical Turk and completed the Life Events Checklist for DSM-5, Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Checklist for DSM-5, Media and Technology Usage and Attitudes Scale, and Patient Health Questionnaire-9. Results: Hierarchical multiple regression analyses indicated that, controlling for depression severity, greater frequency of TV viewing (p = .004) and media sharing (p = .040) and greater quantity of online friendships (p = .006) were associated with greater PTSD symptom severity. Conclusion: Study findings suggest that the extent of MTU behaviors (especially extent of TV use, media sharing, and online friendships) are important to examine in trauma-exposed individuals with PTSD symptoms. Results generalize to trauma-exposed community members and are considered within the context of current MTU theories.