Examining relationships between posttraumatic stress disorder severity and types of media/technology usage

Psychopathology, cyberpsychology, and mass media theories link psychological symptoms, such as posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), to increased media and technology usage (MTU). Given limited research in this area, we uniquely examined if specific MTU facets were associated with PTSD symptom severity.A sample of 404 socioeconomically diverse adults (Hierarchical multiple regression analyses indicated that, controlling for depression severity, greater frequency of TV viewing (Study findings suggest that the extent of MTU behaviors (especially extent of TV use, media sharing, and online friendships) are important to examine in trauma-exposed individuals with PTSD symptoms. Results generalize to trauma-exposed community members and are considered within the context of current MTU theories. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).