Binge‐watching: development and validation of the Binge‐Watching Addiction Questionnaire

The approach to the vision of TV series has deeply changed in the last years, and watching multiple episodes of TV content in a single session becomes a popular viewing pattern referred as binge‐watching. Early studies defined binge‐watching as a potentially addictive behavior showing characteristics similar to other behavioral addictions, such as loss of control and pleasure anticipation. This study aims to validate a short self‐report questionnaire focused on assessing binge‐watching behavior and determining whether it shows characteristics similar to addictive behavior, the Binge‐Watching Addiction Questionnaire (BWAQ). An online survey was adopted to administer the questionnaire in the general population (N = 1277). Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses assessed both the validity and the structure of the scale in two independent samples. The statistical analyses confirmed a four‐factor model (i.e., “Craving”, “Dependency”, “Anticipation”, “Avoidance”) of the BWAQ with good psychometric properties. The BWAQ can differentiate between people who adopt maladaptive watching activities from those who use TVseries as leisure and entertainment activities. Therefore, this questionnaire may enable researchers to improve this emerging field of research significantly.