Individuals who use media to help reduce stress may experience increased feelings of guilt and failure, according to a new study. The results counter a common belief that media can help to destress and relax overworked or very fatigued individuals, particularly after a long day.

The study was conducted by researchers at the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz in Germany and the VU University Amsterdam. Results were published in the Journal of Communication.

According to the study, individuals who experienced high levels of stress after work and who watched TV or played video games dealt with increased feelings of guilt and failure.

The researchers surveyed 471 participants and asked them to think about the previous day and report how they felt after work and the media they used. The results showed that those who were particularly tired after school or work were more likely to feel that their media use was a form of procrastination, and that they opted for media use over more important tasks, resulting in elevated feelings of guilt over their media use.

Reinecke said in a statement, “We are beginning to better understand that media use can have beneficial effects for people’s well-being, through media-induced recovery. Our present study is an important step towards a deeper understanding of this. It demonstrates that in the real life, the relationship between media use and well-being is complicated and that the use of media may conflict with other, less pleasurable but more important duties and goals in everyday life.” He continued, “We are starting to look at media use as a cause of depletion. In times of smartphones and mobile Internet, the ubiquitous availability of content and communication often seems to be a burden and a stressor rather than a recovery resource.”

According to a BLS study of employed individuals’ leisure activities in 2013, TV watching ranked at the top of the list with an average of 2.8 hours watched per day.