Binge-Watching as Behavioral Addiction: A Systematic Review

In the recent past, binge-watching has emerged as one of the most prevalent pursuits among adults. Being a relatively new phenomenon, there is a pressing need to examine the literature on the associations of binge watching with various psychological correlates such as cognitive processes, emotional regulation, moods and sleep patterns. Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) model was employed for this systematic review. Relevant articles were collected using various databases including Google Scholar, Research Gate and PubMed. This resulted in a collection of 209 articles which were further screened based on the predefined inclusion and exclusion criteria. Out of these articles, 18 met the criteria and were included in the study. The findings revealed noteworthy associations between binge-watching behavior; particularly problematic patterns, and disruptions in mood and emotional dysregulation. The systematic review highlighted that the phenomenon of binge-watching as an addictive and problematic behavior has negative outcomes for individuals such as compromised executive functioning as well as cognitive deficits