Media multitasking is associated with symptoms of depression and social anxiety
Open accessAbstract
We investigated whether multitasking with media was a unique predictor of depression and social anxiety symptoms. Participants (N=318) completed measures of their media use, personality characteristics, depression, and social anxiety. Regression analyses revealed that increased media multitasking was associated with higher depression and social anxiety symptoms, even after controlling for overall media use and the personality traits of neuroticism and extraversion. The unique association between media multitasking and these measures of psychosocial dysfunction suggests that the growing trend of multitasking with media may represent a unique risk factor for mental health problems related to mood and anxiety. Further, the results strongly suggest that future research investigating the impact of media use on mental health needs to consider the role that multitasking with media plays in the relationship.
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Becker et al. proposed that media multitasking can predict the levels of depression and social anxiety of college students, even under the control of other factors such as total time spent on media and personality traits.
“Becker et al. proposed that media multitasking can predict the levels of depression and social anxiety of college students, even under the control of other factors (such as total time spent on media and personality traits) (14).”
From Media multitasking, depression, and anxiety of college students: Serial mediating effects of attention control and negative information attentional bias (2022) · cites this paper as [14]
Media multitasking has been associated with negative health outcomes in the past.
“Media multitasking has been associated with negative health outcomes in the past (Becker et al., 2013; Rosen et al., 2013).”
From Problematic social media use and depressive symptoms among U.S. young adults: A nationally-representative study (2017) · cites this paper as Becker et al., 2013
Cognitive control deficits may explain why media multitasking interferes with academic performance and socioemotional functioning.
“Deficits in cognitive control may in turn explain why media multitasking interferes with academic performance (e.g., Ophir et al., 2009) and socioemotional functioning (e.g., Becker, Alzahabi, & Hopwood, 2013).”
From The consequences of media multitasking for youth: A review (2015) · cites this paper as Becker et al., 2013
More media multitasking was related to higher levels of social anxiety.
“higher levels of social anxiety (Becker et al., 2013),”
From The consequences of media multitasking for youth: A review (2015) · cites this paper as Becker et al., 2013
Two studies showed that media multitasking was related to problematic emotional functioning, with correlations from .05 to .19.
“the other two studies showed that media multitasking was related to problematic emotional functioning, r range = .05to .19.”
From The consequences of media multitasking for youth: A review (2015) · cites this paper as Becker et al., 2013
More media multitasking was related to more symptoms of depression.
“more media multitasking was related to more symptoms of depression,”
From The consequences of media multitasking for youth: A review (2015) · cites this paper as Becker et al., 2013
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References 27 · Cited by 291
- Authors
- Becker, M. W., Alzahabi, R., & Hopwood, C. J.
- Affiliations
- Michigan State University (US)
- Venue
- Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2013-02
- Volume
- 16
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 132-135
- ISSN
- 2152-2715 (ISSN-L)
- 2152-2723
- OpenAlex
- W1982119734
- Cited by
- 291
- References
- 27
- Citations by year
- 2026: 8 · 2025: 18 · 2024: 28 · 2023: 22 · 2022: 27 · 2021: 31 · 2020: 20 · 2019: 26 · 2018: 37 · 2017: 21 · 2016: 18 · 2015: 18 · 2014: 11 · 2013: 5 · 2012: 1
- FWCI
- 36.80
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- doi.org
- Locations
- Cyberpsychology Behavior and Social Networking (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Zurich Open Repository and Archive (University of Zurich) (acceptedVersion)
- Zurich Open Repository and Archive (University of Zurich) (submittedVersion)
- Zurich Open Repository and Archive (University of Zurich)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Impact of Technology on Adolescents
- Social Sciences › Education › Child Development and Digital Technology
- Social Sciences › Decision Sciences › Information Systems and Management › Personal Information Management and User Behavior
- Keywords
- media multitasking, depression, social anxiety, media use, neuroticism, extraversion, personality traits, mental health, mood disorders, anxiety disorders
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Anxiety, Attention, Depression, Female, Humans, Male, Mental Health, Music, Phobic Disorders, Surveys and Questionnaires, Risk Factors, Telephone, Television, Video Games, Internet, Text Messaging
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