[01] Ashvin Abraham, Faculty of Medicine, Manipal University College Malaysia, Manipal Academy of Higher Education (MAHE), Melaka, Malaysia. [02] Mariam Binti Jaffridin, Faculty of Medicine, Manipal University College Malaysia, Manipal Academy of Higher Education (MAHE), Melaka, Malaysia. [03] Joveena Preet Kaur Gill, Faculty of Medicine, Manipal University College Malaysia, Manipal Academy of Higher Education (MAHE), Melaka, Malaysia. [04] Tan Jolin, Faculty of Medicine, Manipal University College Malaysia, Manipal Academy of Higher Education (MAHE), Melaka, Malaysia. [05] Mithiranee Ramesh, Faculty of Medicine, Manipal University College Malaysia, Manipal Academy of Higher Education (MAHE), Melaka, Malaysia.

In this era of technology, streaming services like Netflix have gained more traffic growth and people are abandoning traditional television. This has led to a binge-watching behaviour where people watch their favourite shows back-to-back episodes in a single sitting. This study was designed to determine the association between psychological well-being, loneliness and television binge-watching behaviour along with television affinity in Malaysia among undergraduate students of a private medical college, Manipal University College Malaysia (MUCM). A cross-sectional study was conducted from January 2021 to February 2021 and 1800 students were selected as the study population. To enrol the students for this study, purposive sampling was used. An online questionnaire consisting of five sections was completed by 219 students. It had questions and statements related to psychological well-being, loneliness, television affinity and binge-watching behaviour using validated questionnaires. The analysis included frequency, percentage, mean, standard deviation and the statistical tests used were unpaired T-test, ANOVA chi-square test, correlation and logistic regression. Among the 219 students who participated, the researchers found that 61.7% spent watching television shows on weekdays with an average of less than 2 hours and 73.1% watched television shows on weekends for more than 2 hours on an average. 76.7% of the samples admitted to binge-watching and only 19.6% of them viewed their television-viewing habit negatively. The total mean score of samples’ television affinity was known to be 15.2 ± 3.3, which was moderate. There was a positive significant association between loneliness and television affinity (r-value: 0.14, p-value: 0.024) as well as loneliness and binge-watching behaviour (OR: 1.29; 95% CI: 1.19-1.40, p-value: <0.005). The findings further displayed a negative significant association between psychological well-being and television affinity (r-value: - 0.25, p-value: <0.005) where samples with poor psychological well-being were having high television affinity. This study also showed that samples who had poor psychological well-being were less likely to binge-watch with a positive significant association between those two variables (OR: 1.01; 95% CI: 1.01-1.02, p-value: <0.005). For future study, the researchers would suggest that they is a need to explore other factors such as anxiety and depression in association with television affinity and binge-watching behaviour. The findings in this study reflected that the samples who felt lonely tend to have higher television affinity and binge-watching. Thus, the concern is finding more appropriate ways to address the feelings of loneliness among the medical university students.

Psychological Well-Being, Loneliness, Television Affinity, Binge-Watching Behaviour

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