Television Use and Experienced Wellbeing in US Older Adults: Examining Causal Effects over a Day Using the PSID Disability and Use of Time Study

• In Event: Media Effects on Health Attitudes and Behaviors

Abstract

Television use is a ubiquitous and common activity of daily life, and there is a growing body of work on relations between television use and physical and psychological wellbeing. The current study examines temporal dynamics of real-world television viewing and wellbeing among a national sample of US adults aged 60 and over from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics Disability and Use of Time Study. We examine whether lower levels of experienced wellbeing predict increased use of television, and whether this use leads to increases in wellbeing during and after watching. Results find no impact of mood on the decision to watch television, but an increase in the likelihood of a positive change in mood during and after television viewing. These changes in wellbeing over time as a function of real-world TV use clarify how media may be used (mal)adaptively in the daily lives of older adults in the US.

Authors

• Sonya Dal Cin, University of Michigan

• Stuart Soroka, U of Michigan

• Dan Hiaeshutter-Rice, University of Michigan