Entertainment Media Consumption, Coping Strategies, and Psychological Well-Being among Outstation College Students in Bengaluru: A Correlational Study

The psychological, social, and academic challenges faced by outstation college students while adjusting to new environments might influence their patterns of media use, coping behaviors, and psychological well-being. The present study aims at assessing the level of media consumption among outstation college students, examining their psychological well-being, and identifying whether the coping strategies are adaptive/maladaptive. A correlational research design will be followed, and the study will be carried out on hostel staying outstation students of urban based universities in Bangalore in the age group of 18-25 years. Standardized tools, including the Media and technology usage Scale, Warwick Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale, and the Brief COPE Inventory, shall be administered. Pearson correlation and regression modelling will be conducted to understand the relationships among the variables. The study attempts to explore the relationship between media consumption and psychological well-being and the relationship of coping strategies and psychological well-being. Furthermore, the study also intends to investigate the extent to which the coping strategy mediates or moderates the effects of media consumption on psychological well-being. It is expected that the findings would provide an understanding of how media or digital engagement and coping patterns influence emotional functioning among outstation students and could help in designing targeted psychological support and campus-based mental health interventions.