Screen Time Addiction and its Relationship with Borderline Personality Disorder and Psychological Distress

Abstract

The present study was conducted to determine the relationship between screen time addiction (STA), borderline personality disorder (BPD) and psychological distress (PD) among adults. Participants (N = 150) were selected in the study. Their age range varies from 19 years onwards. Cross-sectional survey research design was used and data was collected through purposive sampling technique. Internet Addiction Test (IAT) (Young, 1998), Mclean Borderline Personality Disorder Instrument (MSI-BPD (Zanarini et al., 2003), and Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (K10) (Kessler & Mroczek, 1992) were used. Pearson correlation, independent sample t-test and linear regression were done for analysis. Results showed that STA had significant positive correlation with BPD and PD. Moreover STA predicted BPD and PD. The results also showed that both the dependent variables (BPD and PD) were also significantly and positively related with each other. Moreover, there was a significant gender difference among male and female population on STA, as the results showed that men are more addicted to screen time than women. The study showed that there is significant and positive relationship of screen time addiction with borderline personality disorder and psychological distress. The results also showed that there is a significant, moderate and positive relationship between borderline personality disorder and psychological distress. The present study showed that screen time addiction significantly predicted borderline personality disorder and psychological distress. The study also revealed the gender differences between men and women on internet addiction; as men were found to be more addicted towards screen time than women.