RT Article
T1 The anxiety of the pandemic: binge-watching, splurging, sexting, hooking up, and masturbating among college students
JF Deviant behavior
VO 43
IS 11
SP 1366
OP 1384
A1 Mowen, Thomas J.
A2 Heitkamp, Amanda
LA English
YR 2022
UL https://krimdok.uni-tuebingen.de/Record/1856535533
AB The global coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has significantly altered the lives of college students across the United States. Following the outbreak of COVID-19 in the spring of 2020, college campuses were shuttered, classes moved to remote instruction, and university activities, celebrations, and events were canceled. Cast against a backdrop of uncertainty about the future, studies have documented that the pandemic has significantly increased anxiety among college students as they adjust to a "new normal." Drawing from general strain theory, we examine the influence of specific COVID-19-related strains on a variety of changes in student behavior including binge-watching streaming services, splurging on online shipping, sexting, "hooking up" with random people, and masturbating. Results using structural equation models on data from 1,287 students at a Midwestern university show that specific sources of strain directly are related to binge-watching, online shopping, hooking up with random people, and masturbating, while anxiety was directly related to increased binge-watching, online shopping, and sexting. Anxiety mediated the pathways between some sources of strain and binge-watching and splurging on online shopping. Overall, findings highlight that the global pandemic not only induces anxiety and interrupts academic life but also carries far-reaching consequences for a wide range of behaviors.
NO Literaturverzeichnis: Seite 1381-1384
DO 10.1080/01639625.2021.1982658