Headphone Use, Emotion Regulation, Social Avoidance and Perceived Stress among Urban Young Adults

Headphones are now part of everyday urban life, yet little is known about how their use relates to the way young adults manage emotions, avoid social contact, and experience stress. This cross-sectional study examined whether headphone use is related to emotion regulation and social avoidance, and whether social avoidance is related to perceived stress. An online survey was completed by 50 urban adults aged 22 to 35 years. Participants reported their headphone use and completed the Emotion Regulation Questionnaire, the Social Avoidance and Distress Scale, and the Perceived Stress Scale. Pearson correlations showed that headphone use was not significantly related to cognitive reappraisal (r = -.02), expressive suppression (r = .19), or social avoidance (r = .05). Social avoidance was positively related to perceived stress (r = .31, p = .026), although a rank-based check was not significant (rho = .26, p = .067). The amount of headphone use appears to say little about emotional or social coping, whereas social avoidance is modestly linked to stress. Findings are tentative because of the small convenience sample and correlational design.