The Intersection Between Loneliness and Binge-Watching Behavior in Young Adults
Fancher Psychology’s Jordan Nielsen recently presented on research regarding the impact of binge-watching and loneliness in young adults. Research into the impact of excessive use of technology and screens on the developing brain is crucial to understand how to create healthy limits and guidelines around consumption of screen based media. A summary of her presentation and findings are below.
Still watching?: The intersection between loneliness and binge-watching behavior in young adults (Friday, March 6th)
Presenter: Dawn Livorsi, DSW, LCSW, Jordan Nielsen, LPC, NCC
Description: A 2025 report from the World Health Organization (WHO) Commission on Social Connection named loneliness as a global health issue that negatively affects 1 in 6 individuals. Loneliness, a negative, subjective emotional state resulting from a discrepancy between one’s desired and actual experiences of connection, is linked to a number of physical, psychological, and cognitive concerns, including heart disease, depression, and reduced memory function (Berg, 2023). Young adults report the second highest rates of loneliness (17.4%), following Adolescents (20.9%) (WHO, 2025). For a variety of reasons including separation from established social networks like family or school (Shah & Househ, 2023), feeling “overworked” / “too busy” to engage with friends, and technology use (MCC, 2024), young adults often find themselves feeling socially disconnected.
At the same time, they have witnessed incredible growth in web streaming and on-demand viewing platforms such as Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Prime Video, which provide opportunities for constant and continuous viewing. Binge-watching, or watching multiple episodes of a television show in one session, has become such a widespread practice among young adults that it has received empirical study (Alimoradi et al, 2022). Notably, binge-watching has been linked to increased feelings of loneliness (Gabbiadini et al., 2021), while “coping with loneliness” is considered a significant factor in problematic binge-watching (Starosta & Izydorczyk, 2020).
Despite being associated with undesired outcomes such as reduced social life (De Feijter et al., 2016) and poorer sleep quality (Exelmans and Van den Buick, 2017), binge-watching is commonplace. Nearly 70% of adults report having engaged in binge-watching (Cha & Chan-Olmsted, 2025), with many young adults reporting they use it as a coping strategy to tolerate negative emotions (Gabbiadini et al, 2021). The proposed presentation will explore the interplay between loneliness and binge-watching, while providing clinically applicable concepts to implement with young adult clients.