Social Media Addiction in Geopolitically At-Risk Youth

Energy drinks, depression, insomnia and stress among Palestinians: The mediating role of cigarettes smoking, electronic cigarettes and waterpipe

We investigated the association between energy drinks, depression, insomnia and stress among Palestinians and whether cigarette smoking, electronic cigarettes, and waterpipe mediate the association between these variables. Our study sample consisted of 506 Palestinian adults: 120 men and 386 women recruited from online advertisements, e-mail campaigns and social media. Findings showed a positive correlation between energy drinks, depression, insomnia, and stress. While a positive correlation was found between energy drinks, cigarette smoking, electronic smoking and waterpipe. Results of path analysis showed that energy drinks, cigarette smoking, electronic smoking and waterpipe mediated the correlation between energy drinks, insomnia, depression and stress. Thus, there is an urgent need to increase community awareness regarding the adverse effects of excessive energy drink consumption among Palestinians. Accordingly, training programs, workshops, and open days targeting Palestinians to improve awareness of the adverse effects of energy drinks on physical and mental health are crucial to reducing Palestinians' extensive use of energy drinks.

The influence of job search stress on college students' addictive social media use: Seeking of social support and perceived social support as serial mediators and sense of coherence as a moderator

Resulting from an enlarged number of graduating college students and shrinkage of work opportunities, stress in relation to job search and employment is becoming an increasingly noticeable issue in China. Previous psychiatry research has suggested that social support can be conducive to reducing stress from multiple sources, while the effectiveness hinges on whether it is actually recognized and perceived by the recipients. The prevalence of social media has greatly facilitated the communication and exchange of social support information. However, they can also lead to overuse and addiction problems. This study aims to investigate how job search stress affects graduating college students' social media addiction severity using a serial mediation model and test the potential moderation effect of sense of coherence. Based on a sample of graduating college students (n = 144), our findings point out a significant pathway for the impacts of stress sequentially through seeking of social support and perceived social support. Furthermore, job search stress seems to have pronounced effects on the psychological need for social support only at low- and mid-levels of sense of coherence.

Predictive Roles of Psychological Resilience and Coping Skills on Social Media Addiction

Social media addiction is fundamentally evaluated as a behavioral addiction. The studies on this issue stress the relation of long-term social media usage that may transform into addiction with chronical stress, depression, low psychological well-being and decreased life satisfaction. This study aims to examine the relationship between psychological resilience and coping skills of young adults and their levels of social media addiction. Participants of the study consists of total 436 young adults, 296 (68%) of which are female and 140 (32%) of which are male. “Social Media Addiction Scale”, “The Brief Resilience Scale” and “COPE Inventory- Brief Form” are applied to the participants. The results indicated that mean scores of social media addiction scales show low levels of social media addiction by the participants. According to multiple regression analysis results, psychological resilience, acceptance, substance use, focusing on and venting of emotions, and turning to religion have significant effect on predicting social media addiction. Psychological resilience is a predictor of social media addiction in negative direction. On the other hand, there is a relationship between emotion-oriented and unfunctional coping strategies and social media addiction.

A two-generation study: The transmission of attachment and young adults' depression, anxiety, and social media addiction

Social media use is on the rise among young adults (YA) and evidence suggests a positive association between social media addiction (SMA) and the psychological symptoms of depression and anxiety globally. However, the contribution of attachment and its transgenerational influence on YAs' SMA and psychological symptoms have not been widely explored. Thus, we examined how parental reports of attachment (anxiety and avoidance) can directly and through YAs' attachment predict YAs' SMA, depression and anxiety symptoms. A sample of 375 YAs (M_Age = 21.22) and their parents completed the Emotions in Close Relationships-Revised Questionnaire (Fraley et al., 2000), and the Brief Symptom Inventory (Deragotis, 1992). The SMA Scale (Sahin, 2018) was responded to by only YAs. We tested the pattern of associations in a path model. Parental attachment anxiety predicted YAs' attachment anxiety and only paternal attachment avoidance predicted YAs' attachment avoidance. YAs' attachment anxiety and avoidance predicted their depression and anxiety. However, YAs' attachment anxiety uniquely predicted their SMA. Both parents' attachment anxiety indirectly predicted the link between YAs' attachment anxiety and depression, but only paternal attachment avoidance indirectly predicted the association between YAs' attachment avoidance and depression. Furthermore, paternal attachment avoidance indirectly predicted the association between YAs' attachment avoidance and anxiety symptoms. Maternal attachment anxiety indirectly predicted SMA via YAs' attachment anxiety. While parental anxiety and paternal avoidance may impact YAs' symptoms, YAs' and maternal attachment anxiety can shape SMA. The findings about the differential role of attachment in YAs' psychological symptoms and SMA can facilitate further research and interventions.

The association between problematic Internet use, eating disorder behaviors, and well-being among Palestinian university students

Objectives

The current study aimed to test the correlation between problematic Internet use, eating disorder behaviors, and well-being among Palestinian university students.

Methods

To examine the relationship between the study variables, a correlational study was conducted. The geographical representation of the study sample showed that 48.1% of participants were from urban populations, 48.1% were from rural villages, and 3.8% were from internally displaced people’s camps.

Results

Pearson’s correlation coefficient was used to test the relationship between problematic Internet use, eating disorder behaviors, and well-being. Results showed that problematic Internet use was negatively correlated to well-being (r = − .32, p < .01), and positively correlated to eating disorder behaviors (r = .39, p < .01). The regression analysis found that problematic Internet use contributes statistically and significantly towards explaining variance in eating disorder behaviors (B = .46, SE = .08, β = .32). Moreover, well-being contributed in a way that was statistically significant towards explaining variance in eating disorders behaviors (B = − .39, SE = .09, β = − .25).

Conclusion

The results of our study support previous studies that indicated that problematic Internet use was significantly and positively correlated with eating disorder behaviors, while it was significantly and negatively correlated to well-being among Palestinian university students. Further studies testing this relationship will be crucial in developing interventions to both reduce problematic Internet use and eating disorder behaviors and increase well-being among university students.

Problematic internet use and its association with sleep disturbance and life satisfaction among Palestinians during the COVID-19 pandemic

The current study was conducted to test the relationship between problematic internet use, sleep disturbance, and life satisfaction among Palestinians during the Covid-19 pandemic. The sample consisted of 366 Palestinian adults (129 males and 237 females), recruited from online advertisements, e-mail campaigns, social media, and SMS campaigns. Results of the correlational analysis showed that problematic internet use positively correlated with sleep disturbance (r = .19, p < .01), and negatively correlated with life satisfaction (r = −.17, p < .01). Moreover, life satisfaction negatively correlated to sleep disturbance (r = −.25, p < .01). The regression analysis for predicting problematic internet use found that life satisfaction contributes in a way that was statistically significant towards explaining variance in problematic Internet use (B = -.15, SE = .05, β = −.15), in addition sleep disturbance explained statistically and significantly variance in problematic internet use (B = .16, SE = .04, β = .20). Intervention programs directed at decreasing internet use may need to be updated to better address the issues of “necessary” excessive use during COVID-19 restrictions and re-entry into normalized activity patterns when shut-downs are finished. As a completely new area of investigation, this study can serve as an impetus to further examinations of these important topics.

The efficacy of a training program for social skills in reducing addictive Internet behaviors among Palestinian university students

Background

For youth in geopolitically at-risk environments, such as Palestine, the issues related to Internet overuse and addictions are complex. Youth residing in the occupied territories of Palestine as in other highly militarized zones have high levels of environmental stressors (e.g., militarization, poverty, lack of employment opportunities, cultural pressures, etc.) and few chemical or social outlets such as alcohol, intoxicants, and leisure activities. As such, the easily accessible and unrestricted opportunities for stress-reducing social contact of social media can lead easily to excessive and maladaptive Internet use. Therefore, interventions directly aimed at awareness and education on how to manage Internet use are critical for addressing these issues in high risk populations.

Aims

The purpose of the current study was to test the efficacy of a time-limited group training program aimed at improving social skills and reducing addictive Internet behaviors among university students.

Methods and results

The sample consisted of 30 university students who self-reported high scores on an Internet addiction scale. Participants were randomly assigned to either wait list or treatment group (15 in each condition). Results demonstrated that using a social skills training program over an 8-week period improved the level of social skills and reduced addictive Internet behaviors significantly in those who experienced the intervention when compared with a wait list control group.

Conclusions

These findings support the implementation of time limited training programs targeting social skills and addictive patterns of Internet use with university students identified with high levels of Internet addictive behaviors.

Psychometric properties of the COVID stress scales (CSS) within Arabic language in a Palestinian context

The main goal of this study was to examine the psychometric properties of the COVID Stress Scales (CSS) in the Palestinian context and the factorial structure of the instrument. The CSS, a newly emerging internationally standardized measure of stress related to being exposed to or contracting COVID-19, was translated and validated for a Palestinian context to ensure that it can be used to measure COVID-19 stress. The sample of the study consisted of 860 Palestinian adults living in the West Bank of Palestine. Participants’ age ranged from 20 to 48 years old (M = 34.7, SD =13.46). They were all recruited from online advertisements, e-mail campaigns, blogs, social media, and SMS campaigns. The CSS was found to be valid in the Arabic language within a Palestinian context. The confirmatory factor analysis yielded six factors: (1) Fears about the dangerousness of COVID-19, (2) fears about the personal social, and economic consequences of COVID-19, fears of disruption in the supply chain, fears of looting or rioting, (3) COVID-19-xenophobia, fears that foreigners are sources of COVID-19, (4) fears about sources of COVID-19-related contamination,(5) traumatic stress symptoms related to COVID-19, and (6) COVID-19-related checking which is consisting with the ordinal structure the scale. The CSS demonstrated a high level of validity and reliability in a Palestinian context and therefore can be considered for future studies as the COVID-19 pandemic persists. Further investigations using the Arabic Language of CSS may have far-reaching implications for measuring and combating the stress of COVID-19 at a personal and societal level for uniquely at-risk populations such as in the occupied territories of Palestine.

A review of theories and models applied in studies of social media addiction and implications for future research

With the increasing use of social media, the addictive use of this new technology also grows. Previous studies found that addictive social media use is associated with negative consequences such as reduced productivity, unhealthy social relationships, and reduced life-satisfaction. However, a holistic theoretical understanding of how social media addiction develops is still lacking, which impedes practical research that aims at designing educational and other intervention programs to prevent social media addiction. In this study, we reviewed 25 distinct theories/models that guided the research design of 55 empirical studies of social media addiction to identify theoretical perspectives and constructs that have been examined to explain the development of social media addiction. Limitations of the existing theoretical frameworks were identified, and future research areas are proposed.

The Association Between Positive Religious Coping, Perceived Stress, and Depressive Symptoms During the Spread of Coronavirus (COVID-19) Among a Sample of Adults in Palestine: Across Sectional Study

OBJECTIVES

The current study was designed to investigate the relationship between positive religious coping, perceived stress, and depressive symptoms among Palestinian adults in response to the emergence of coronavirus (COVID-19), and the quarantine system implemented in the city of Tulkarem, Palestine.

METHODS

A correlational study was conducted to examine the relationship between study variables. Participants were 400 Palestinian adults, involving 172 males and 228 females, living in the city of Tulkarem, Palestine, during the spread of coronavirus. Participants were selected using convenience and snowball sampling techniques.

RESULTS

Pearson's correlation coefficient was used to test the relationship between positive religious coping, depressive symptoms, and perceived stress. Findings revealed a statistically significant negative correlation between positive religious coping and depressive symptoms (r = - .17, p < .01). Results also indicated a statistically significant negative correlation between positive religious coping and perceived stress (r = - .15, p < .01). The regression analysis for predicting depressive symptoms found that both positive religious coping (B = - .21, SE = .05, β = - .18) and perceived stress (B = .41, SE = .05, β = .35) were statistically significant toward explaining variance in depressive symptoms.

CONCLUSION

The importance of developing intervention programs that take into consideration religious/spiritual struggles and positive religious strategies may help improve resilience and well-being among affected populations. With the recent spread of COVID-19, findings of this current study have presented important practical implications for improving the mental health and well-being among Palestinians, especially since Palestinian society continues to face different types of stressors, such as illegal occupation. Further studies are recommended to test the relationship between current study variables and other related variables.