What does media use reveal about personality and mental health? An exploratory investigation among German students

The present study aimed to investigate the relationship between personality traits, mental health variables and media use among German students. The data of 633 participants were collected. Results indicate a positive association between general Internet use, general use of social platforms and Face...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:PloS one 2018-01, Vol.13 (1), p.e0191810-e0191810
Main Authors: Brailovskaia, Julia, Margraf, Jürgen
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescent
Adult
Biology and Life Sciences
Computer & video games
Computer and Information Sciences
Cross-Sectional Studies
Discussion groups
Electronic & video games
Female
Germany
Humans
Internet
Internet - statistics & numerical data
Life satisfaction
Male
Mass Media - statistics & numerical data
Medical research
Medicine and Health Sciences
Mental depression
Mental disorders
Mental Health
Mental health care
Middle Aged
Narcissism
Personality
Personality traits
Resilience
Self esteem
Social interaction
Social interactions
Social Media - statistics & numerical data
Social Networking
Social networks
Social research
Social Sciences
Social support
Students
Students - psychology
Studies
Variables
Video Games
Young Adult
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Summary:The present study aimed to investigate the relationship between personality traits, mental health variables and media use among German students. The data of 633 participants were collected. Results indicate a positive association between general Internet use, general use of social platforms and Facebook use, on the one hand, and self-esteem, extraversion, narcissism, life satisfaction, social support and resilience, on the other hand. Use of computer games was found to be negatively related to these personality and mental health variables. The use of platforms that focus more on written interaction (Twitter, Tumblr) was assumed to be negatively associated with positive mental health variables and significantly positively with depression, anxiety, and stress symptoms. In contrast, Instagram use, which focuses more on photo-sharing, correlated positively with positive mental health variables. Possible practical implications of the present results for mental health, as well as the limitations of the present work are discussed.
ISSN:1932-6203
1932-6203
DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0191810