Parasocial relationships with disliked television characters, depressive symptoms, and loneliness among older adults

ABSTRACT

This study considered how older adults’ parasocial relationships with disliked television characters predict depressive symptoms and loneliness, as well as how attachment styles and real-life romantic relationship quality moderate these associations. Adults aged 55 and older reported on their most disliked television character and romantic relationship functioning in a self-administered survey, and hierarchical multiple regressions were used to test the data. Results revealed that older adults with low attachment avoidance and low-quality romantic relationships demonstrated the largest increases in their depressive symptoms and loneliness as their antagonistic parasocial relationships increased in intensity. Applied implications of these findings are considered, such as alternative outlets to which older adults with low attachment avoidance and low-quality romantic relationships might turn (e.g. community volunteering, relationships with children, grandchildren, and friends) if their romantic and parasocial relationships are not conducive to fostering mental well-being.

KEYWORDS:

• Parasocial relationships
• attachment theory
• older adults
• depressive symptoms
• loneliness

Acknowledgments

The author would like to thank the editor and two anonymous reviewers for their constructive feedback on an earlier version of the paper.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1 The original sample size was N = 261. However, a total of 55 participants did not currently have a romantic partner. This study focused on the subset of participants with a current romantic partner (n = 206). All content in the Method and Results sections pertains to this subset of participants.

2 Full tables of regression coefficients and standard errors for the two models with attachment anxiety as a moderator are available upon request.