Intellectual Television Harms Relaxation, Games Help Us Detach? Different Attributes of Bedtime Media Are Associated With Multiple Types of Recovery
Date
2025-08-11
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Psychology of Popular Media
Abstract
Using media to unwind after a long day is common, and empirical work shows that media use may aid recovery
from stress and strain. This study uses secondary data analysis of bedtime media diaries to examine how
various media types and content-related features may be associated with different recovery outcomes.
Results indicate that intellectually challenging media is negatively associated with relaxation, but this is
not the case for emotionally challenging media. We also see that video games (but not television or social
media) are positively associated with psychological detachment. Guilt about media use impedes several
recovery outcomes, and older participants report a greater sense of renewed control after using media at bedtime.
Taken together, this work provides some insight into how different forms of media may aid or impede
recovery outcomes and suggests several avenues for future development.
Description
This article was originally published in Psychology of Popular Media. The version of record is available at: https://dx.doi.org/10.1037/ppm0000617
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0; https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0). This license permits copying and redistributing the work in any medium or format for noncommercial use provided the original authors and source are credited and a link to the license is included in attribution. No derivative works are permitted under this license.
Keywords
recovery, guilt, media coping, media challenge
Citation
Grady, S. M., Ellithorpe, M. E., Wirz, D. S., Ulusoy, E., Vinjamuri, S., & Eden, A. (2025). Intellectual television harms relaxation, games help us detach? Different attributes of bedtime media are associated with multiple types of recovery.Psychology of Popular Media. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1037/ppm0000617