Traditional media use and depression in the general population: evidence for a non-linear relationship

被引:0
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作者
Sebastian Scherr
机构
[1] University of Leuven,School for Mass Communication Research
来源
Current Psychology | 2021年 / 40卷
关键词
Depression; Legacy media use motives; Curve-fitting methodology; Telephone survey (CATI); General population;
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摘要
Depression is the most common metal disorder linked to media use. Theoretically, the relationship between depression and media use has been conceptualized as a linear function. However, depressive symptoms vary from dysphoric moods to severely depressed states with major social impairment, thus providing a strong alternative rationale for a non-linear relationship. This paper reports on findings from a representative telephone survey of the general German population (N = 2002) including both the respondents’ motivation behind spending time using traditional media and a measure to screen for depression in the general population. The curve-fitting methodology revealed that the associations between depression and media use are described by a cubic growth function for newspapers, the radio, magazines, and books; associations with television use were positive, but more complex. The relationship between depression and media use should be modeled as a polynomial function for more accurate estimations in the future.
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页码:957 / 972
页数:15
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