Why you shouldn’t feel guilty about watching TV after a long day, according to science

Published 19 hours ago
Source: metro.co.uk
Good news for those who flop on the sofa and refuse to move after a long day: science says it could be good for you. A new study published in the Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology reveals that some time in front of the screen may benefit your mental health. Researchers combined their own investigations into leisure time with information from the United States Census Bureau on household size, stress levels, and screen usage. (Picture: Getty)
They found that people who take some ‘me time’ at home after work appear to have an easier time bouncing back to their daily responsibilities. Previous research has also shown that recovery is important to preventing burnout, depression and other negative health effects. But what happens to people who go home to chaotic environments? (Picture: Getty)
Lead author professor Soo Min Toh said: ‘Household size is really about how many demands a person experiences when they go home. We tend to think that home might be a place of rest, but when you have more people – at least when you look at it in terms of number of children – it could create more demands for someone and so it’s not necessarily a place for recovery.’ (Picture: Getty)
So the researchers looked at how much time more than 61,000 American married adults spent watching TV, how many kids they had, and the extent to which they felt tired and stressed. They found that households with kids rated feeling more fatigued and stressed. However, even with kids in the house, those that spent more time watching TV said they experienced less stress and tiredness. (Picture: Getty)
So, scrolling on smartphones and playing video games after work might ‘buffer’ the effect of stress in chaotic households. The researchers also surveyed more than 100 Canadian post-secondary students on their levels of home chaos. Then students filled out nightly surveys on smartphone usage and daily moods. Those who had higher levels of home chaos also reported more negative moods. But, when people spent more time on their phones their negative mood wasn’t as intense. (Picture: Getty)
Then the researchers also looked at nightly video game use, and participants’ level of focus on work the following day. They found people who had more housemates had a harder time getting back into the groove at work the next day, while those who played video games didn’t have as much difficulty reconnecting to work. However, the researchers say that did not account for digital device addiction. (Picture: Getty)
Professor Toh said: ‘There is a buffering effect of screen time to household demands, strain and chaos, number of people and responsibilities. When people use digital devices, it can provide a space or a break, or even a relief or detachment, from both the demands at home and at work. We’re not suggesting you should spend more time on your phone. There’s that caution that if you do spend too much time on these devices, you might have more fatigue and you won’t experience those recovery benefit. Screen time can actually be helpful to recovery. It allows you to take a breather and be in this space where you get a break from all your responsibilities and that can be quite restorative for recovering our resources. We are really hard on ourselves and what we do in our free time. I think the message of this paper is, don’t stress about it.’  (Picture: Getty)

Categories

HealthLifestyleHealth News
Read Original Article

Related Articles from metro.co.uk