Research in Media Use and Symptomatology

RoseAnna L. Hollo

New England CollegePsychology of Social Media

December 12, 2012

Research in Media Use and Symptomatology

In 2005 a study was performed in Germany about the relationship of self-reported

symptomatology and media use in adolescents. Specifically, the researchers examined the

relationship between health and media-use from a “stress-theoretical perspective” (Lohaus, Ball,

Klein-Hessling, and Wild, 2005). Four types of media were examined: TV, audio media, print

media, and computer, while gender differences were noted. The function of these types of media

were analyzed and compared with the types of media used by both genders. This paper serves as

a discussion of that study, including the results and limitations, and how research could be

expanded in this area.

Assessments

A five-point rating scale called “extent of media use” (Lohaus, et al., 2005), was used in

which students choose the frequency of use of various types of media. “Functions of media use”

(Lohaus, et al., 2005), was based on “12 items with four-point rating-scales ranging from ‘does

not apply at all’ to ‘does apply exactly’” (Lohaus, et al., 2005). The items were “(1) getting

information by media use, (2), using media to have fun, and (3) using media for coping with

problems. The Youth Self Report (YSR) questionnaire, which has been used in previous studies

about stress, was adapted for this study in order to assess the level of stress symptoms related to

media use, using language appropriate for the age level of participants (Lohaus, et al., 2005).

Procedure

This study took place from April to June of 2003. Eleven trained graduate students

collected the data. Participants completed questionnaires during school hours in groups of three

to five students. A graduate student was on-hand to help explain items if the participant needed

help. Perhaps the results would be different if the participants would have completed the

questionnaires in a more private area, on their own, as the potential for embarrassment is obvious

when placed in a group of peers.

What was found?

The five-point rating scale analysis showed that most time is spent with TV, followed by

audio media, print media, and then computer use. One has to wonder, first, why video games

were omitted from this study, as they seem to be very popular among pre-teens right now, and

were popular several years ago as well. This is not a new phenomenon in the United States,

though it may be in Germany. Another concern is that with the growth of the internet and social

media sites, perhaps a new study would show that computer use is not the least-used form of

media, but possibly the most-used.

The 12-item scale focusing on the functions of media use showed that fun and coping

were the main reasons for using all types of media, while print media and TV were the only

types of media used to gather information. (Would this be different now because of the

widespread use of online search tools such as Google)? The researchers additionally

hypothesized that “the associations between the extent of media use and symptomatology

reported previously are mediated by the functions of media use…” (Lohaus, 2005). Using a

regression analysis, the researchers looked for a relationship between extent of use and function

of different types of media. They found significant influences related to coping (mostly in TV

use for boys and girls, audio media for girls, and computer use for boys). They found no coping

sought out by either gender in print media, which was used mostly to obtain information.

Gender differences reveal a gap in how and why young adolescents use media and how

they internalize and externalize symptoms. In girls, associations are mainly to externalizing

symptoms, and in boys both internalizing and externalizing was found. A positive correlation

was found between symptomatology and media use. This is muddied by the reasons given for

using media, as some media use was connected with causing stress, and some media use was

associated with a way to relieve stress. Therefore, different types of media serve different uses

for young adolescents (Lohaus, et al., 2005).

If symptomatology is interpreted as stress reactions, it appears that adolescents use media

as a way of coping with stress by creating distractions from it. Media can help to change a

mood, or provide a break from daily life.

It was also clear in this study’s results, that independent influences “can be attributed to

the function of media in getting information. However, even if this function is additionally

included, the relation between media use and symptomatology cannot be fully explained”

(Lohaus, et al., 2005). The best explanation for this, as posed by the researchers, is that

functions are not always related to fun, coping, or information seeking. Getting arousal is just

one example of another function, and there may be many more.

Participants

The participants selected for this study were 357 fifth-graders, of which 201 girls and 156

boys, with an average age of 11.1. The researchers chose fifth-graders “because they represent a

sample at the transition from childhood to adolescence where media use increases with regard to

extent, and also where the function of media use increasingly diverge” (Lohaus, et al., 2005).

The participants were from 25 different secondary schools in the Marburg region of Germany,

and all were Caucasian from “lower to upper middle-class socioeconomic backgrounds”

(Lohaus, et al., 2005). Unfortunately, only two socio-economic classes and one racial

background was examined in this study. This might reflect the region of the world in which this

study was performed, but when applying it to American life, it may not be an accurate sample of

a typical American pre-teen cross-section, as the United States has a much more varied cultural

population. “Germans are a lot more homogeneous (than Americans): obviously in their race, but

also in their clothes, manners, ideas, values, life styles” (Boldt, 2010).

New research possibilities

I believe this study would benefit from being done in the United States. The socio-

economic and racial/ethnic background of participants could be broadened.

The data in this study was collected nearly 10 years ago. It is time to examine this

subject again. Particularly interesting would be to add video games and the internet and/or social

media use to this study, as the prevalence of use among pre-teens is obvious these days.

Another suggestion may be to add more functions to the questionnaire. “Getting arousal”

and other types of functions may be added.

Researchers could also consider group/social use of media and second-hand exposure

among boys, girls, and even mixed groups.

The way the data is collected might benefit from a change, too. Pre-teens who are subject

to embarrassment in groups might answer more honestly if completing the questionnaire in a

private setting.

It would be interesting to see how younger children and adults score on these

questionnaires, as well, and to be able to compare how different age ranges use media.

The researchers suggest that looking to other studies for information about different

functions of media use would be a good first-step in designing new studies that include further

data collection. Further collection of data will be no easy task because of the dynamic

relationship between use, function, and symptomatology.

References

Boldt, A (2010). A subjective comparison of Germany and the United States. Retrieved

December 10, 2012, from http://math-www.uni-paderborn.de/~axel/us-d.html#diversity

Lohaus, A., Ball, J., Klein-Hessling, J., & Wild, M. (2005). Relations between media use

and self-reported symptomatology in young adolescents. Anxiety, Stress, and Coping, 18(4):

333-341.