Risk Factors Associated With Social Media Addiction: An Exploratory Study

The Association Between Mindfulness and Social Media Addiction Among Nurses: A Cross-Sectional Study

BACKGROUND

With the increasing use of social media, social media addiction (SMA) has become a pressing issue and is associated with multiple negative outcomes. Lack of mindfulness has been shown to be associated with an increased risk of SMA, yet such an association has never been explored among nurses in China.

METHODS

From December 4, 2022 to March 14, 2023, a cross-sectional study was conducted in 29 hospitals in Hunan Province, China. A total of 1,141 nurses were recruited and completed the online questionnaires. Mindfulness and SMA were assessed by the Mindful Awareness Attention Scale (MAAS) and Social Networking Service Addiction Scale (SNSAS), respectively. Multivariate linear regression analysis was used to explore the association between mindfulness and SMA, and other influencing factors of SMA.

RESULTS

The nurses had an average score of 68.02 ± 11.86 for mindfulness and 46.15 ± 15.09 for SMA. The results of linear regression analysis showed that lower levels of mindfulness (β = -0.06, p < .001), shorter working years (β = -0.21, p = .014), and experiencing more frequent workplace violence (β = 0.21, p =.007) were associated with an increased risk of SMA.

CONCLUSIONS/APPLICATION TO PRACTICE

Our study shows a generally moderate level of SMA among nurses in Hunan Province, which was influenced by mindfulness, working years, and workplace violence. Mindfulness-based interventions may be effective interventions to alleviate nurses' SMA. Special attention should also be paid to nurses with shorter working years and those who experienced workplace violence.

The associations between optimism, personal growth initiative and the latent classes of social media addiction

Introduction

Most previous studies have explored the risk antecedents of social media addiction, while few studies have focused on the protective factors that may decrease the risk of this behavioral disorder. By using a person-centered method, the current study focused on the effects of two protective factors (optimism and personal growth initiative) on the latent classes of social media addiction.

Methods

552 college students (248 females) participated in the current study, Mplus 8.3 software was adopted to conduct the latent class analysis.

Results

The results revealed that based on the scores of the Bergen Social Media Addiction Scale, social media users were classified into three subgroups: low-risk class, moderate-risk class, and high-risk class. The prevalence rate of social media addiction in college students was about 9.6%. Female gender was a positive predictor of the membership of a higher-risk class. Individuals with greater optimism and personal growth initiative were less likely to be classified in a higher-risk class.

Discussion

Mental health professionals or educators can use these results to design interventions targeting the two aspects to mitigate social media addiction, which may contribute to the positive development of young people.

Screens and scars: SEM analysis of the relationship between childhood trauma, emotion regulation, and social media addiction

Background

Addiction is an increasingly significant global public health concern, affecting individuals across diverse age groups and demographics. With the rapid rise of digital technology, social media addiction has emerged as a growing behavioral issue, impacting mental health, interpersonal relationships, and daily functioning.

Methods

This study employed an online cross-sectional self-report questionnaire, with university students aged 16-35 years as the target population. Data were collected using Google Forms questionnaires, accessible via the university registration system, and sent to the participating students' smart phones. The data collection instruments included the Social Media Addiction Scale (SMAS), the Childhood Trauma Scale (CTS), and the Difficulty in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS).

Results

Data from 318 university students were analyzed. The analysis of sociodemographic data revealed a mean participant age of 21.2 years, with 87.3% being female. An analysis of the relationship between social media addiction and childhood trauma revealed that participants with childhood trauma had higher social media addiction. The linear regression model, including childhood traumas and emotion regulation difficulties for social media addiction scores, was statistically significant. A positive correlation was observed between social media addiction and difficulty in emotion regulation.

Conclusion

These findings suggest that individuals who struggle with emotion regulation tend to use social media more frequently. Furthermore, the negative effects of childhood trauma on emotion regulation capabilities during adulthood contribute to the development of social media addiction.

Social media addiction and borderline personality disorder: a survey study

Background and aims

Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is a serious and difficult to treat psychiatric condition characterized by affective and interpersonal instability, impulsivity, and self-image disturbances. Although the relationship between BPD and substance use disorders has been well-established, there has been considerably less research regarding behavioral addictions in this population. The purpose of this study is to determine the prevalence of social media addiction (SMA) among individuals with BPD and to explore whether it is related to aspects of disorder symptomology.

Methods

300 adults completed an online survey via Prolific. Individuals completed the McLean Screening Instrument for BPD (MSI-BPD), along with the Bergen Social Media Addiction Scale (BSMAS). Additionally, all participants reported how often they use social media for the following reasons: distraction from interpersonal problems, reassurance seeking, self-confidence issues, and anger/revenge.

Results

Of the 289 subjects that completed all measures, 38 (13.1%) screened positive for BPD. Individuals screening positive for BPD were more likely to meet criteria for SMA than controls, and they were more likely to report using social media for interpersonal distraction, reassurance seeking, self-confidence issues, and anger/revenge seeking than controls. Among individuals with BPD, SMA was positively associated with the frequency of each of these behaviors, except for anger/revenge seeking.

Discussion and conclusion

The results of this study demonstrate that SMA is common among the BPD population and may be related to aspects of disorder symptomology. Whether SMA worsens BPD symptoms or whether addressing SMA could lead to improvements in the BPD remains to be seen and is an important area for future research.

Relationships between daily emotional experiences and smartphone addiction among college students: moderated mediating role of gender and mental health problems

Introduction

The theoretical model of smartphone addiction highlights the role of emotional factors in fostering addictive behaviors. However, most research has focused on long-term emotional states and pathologies, often overlooking the immediate effects of daily emotional fluctuations on smartphone usage and their mechanisms.

Methods

Our study employed an online survey and a moderated parallel mediation model to explore how daily emotional experiences influence smartphone addiction among college students. We analyzed the mediating roles of anxiety, stress, and depression, and the moderating effect of gender.

Results

Our findings indicate that daily negative emotional experiences were positively correlated with smartphone addiction, with stress serving as a significant mediator in the relationship between both positive and negative emotional experiences and addiction. Interestingly, positive emotional experiences directly increased smartphone addiction risk among female students, but they also significantly reduced stress and depression, especially pronounced in women. Further analysis indicated that positive emotions primarily mitigate addiction through reducing stress, a pathway especially significant in females.

Discussion

The study not only confirms the substantial impact of emotional experiences on addiction but also deepens our understanding of their mechanisms, underlining the importance of considering the nature of emotional experiences and gender-specific effects in devising prevention and intervention strategies.

Problematic usage of the internet among Hungarian elementary school children: a cross-sectional study

INTRODUCTION

Problematic usage of the internet (PUI) is perhaps one of the most frequently studied phenomena of the 21st century receiving increasing attention in both scientific literature and the media. Despite intensive research there have been relatively few meaningful studies among elementary school students in Hungary and worldwide, who may be considered as a high-risk population with regard to problematic internet use. The aim of our study was to carry out a complex research focusing on the prevalence and risk factors of PUI among elementary school children aged 10-15 years (Grade 5-8).

METHODS

Demographics included were gender, age, place of stay, type of residence, family type, parental education, start of internet use, used devices, daily internet use, purpose of internet use, internet accounts, ways of keeping in touch with friends and sporting activities. PUI was evaluated using the paper-based version of the Potentially Problematic Use of the Internet Questionnaire.

RESULTS

Overall, 2000 paper-based questionnaires were successfully delivered and the final analysis included 1168 responses (overall response rate 58.4%). Mean age was 12.55 ± 1.24 years. Female gender (OR = 2.760, p = 0,006, CI 95% 0.065 to 0.384), younger age (11-12 years) (OR = 3.812, p < 0.001, 95% CI: 1.747-4.731), early exposure to the internet (OR = 3.466, p = 0.001, 95% CI 1.535-5.446), living in a small village (OR = 1.081, p = 0.002, 95% CI 1.041-1.186) urgency to answer online (OR = 4.677, p < 0.001, 95% CI: 2.714-6.639), decreased frequency of personal contact with friends (OR = 2.897, p = 0.004, 95% CI: 1.037-1.681), spending more than 6 h online (OR = 12.913, p < 0.001, 95% CI: 10.798-14.892), morning and nighttime internet use (OR = 3.846, p < 0.001, CI 95% 1.886-5.810) and never doing any sports (OR = 2.016, p = 0.044, 95% CI: 1.050-3.354) were independently associated with problematic internet use.

CONCLUSIONS

Based on the results of our questionnaire survey more than 10% seemed to be problematic users in our study population, which is a relatively high rate. Early exposure to the internet as well as younger age were strongly related to this phenomenon. Duration of being online as well as daily time interval of internet use are important predisposing factors. Scarcely studied social factors such as being online at the expense of personal relationships and the lack of physical activity should be payed more attention to prevent the development of PUI.

Screen time and addictive use of gaming and social media in relation to health outcomes

Introduction

This study examined associations between screen time and addictive use (i.e., heavy involvement and negative consequences) of gaming and social media, and their independent effects on health outcomes.

Methods

Survey data were collected from 2,265 participants (mean age = 21.57). Internet Gaming Disorder (IGD) and Social Media Disorder (SMD) were measured with the Gaming and Social Media Questionnaire (GSMQ-9), with separate measures for heavy involvement and negative consequences. Screen time was measured by weekly hours of gaming and social media. Assessed health outcomes were psychological problems, low self-concept, social problems, sleep problems, and sleep time.

Results

Screen time and addictive use were significantly associated for both gaming and social media, with associations being stronger for symptoms of heavy involvement compared to symptoms of negative consequences. However, despite significant associations, a substantial proportion of the participants with a high screen time did not meet any or just one symptom of addiction. More importantly, it was primarily negative consequences that had independent effects on health outcomes, except for sleep. High levels of heavy involvement in gaming, were even related to lower, not higher, levels of psychological problems.

Conclusion

The present findings study show that screen time is a poor indicator of addictive use of gaming and social media. Given that it was primarily negative consequences of gaming or social media that had effects on health outcomes, our study also emphasizes the need to distinguish between different types of addictive use and to further examine the diagnostic validity of the nine IGD symptom criteria.

Relationships between Depression, Fear of Missing Out and Social Media Addiction: The Mediating Role of Self-Esteem

The present study examines the relationships between depression, self-esteem, fear of missing out, online fear of missing out, and social media addiction in a sample of 311 Italian young adults (66.2% women and 33.8% men), ages 18-35 yrs. (M = 23.5; SD = 3.5). The following hypotheses were tested: that depression is positively correlated with fear of missing out, online fear of missing out, and social media addiction, while being significantly negatively correlated with self-esteem; that depression, self-esteem, fear of missing out, and online fear of missing out explain social media addiction scores; that self-esteem mediates the relationship between depression and social media addiction; and that, among Italian participants between the ages of 18 and 35, younger women report higher scores on fear of missing out, online fear of missing out, and social media addiction. Results strongly supported the hypotheses. Taken together, our findings not only contribute to the growing body of research on online addictive behaviors and individuals' well-being, but also provide support for prevention programs in the field.

Attentional Bias Is Associated with Negative Emotions in Problematic Users of Social Media as Measured by a Dot-Probe Task

OBJECTIVE

Social media (SM) have flourished and are affecting human lives on an unprecedented scale. Problematic social media use (PSMU) is a recently emerging problematic behavior that affects both physical and mental health. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether problematic users of SM display attentional bias (AB) toward SM-related cues, as well as the relationships between AB, the severity of PSMU, and negative emotions.

METHOD

1000 college students were recruited through classes and online forums and then tested using the Bergen Social Media Addiction Scale (BSMAS). Eventually, 60 participants, identified by the cut-off point for BSMAS, consented to participate in the study and were divided into two groups (i.e., a problematic use group and a typical use group). The severity of PSMU and negative emotions (i.e., anxiety, depression, social fear, and loneliness) were evaluated by self-report questionnaires. AB was assessed by an addiction Stroop task and a dot-probe task (DPT).

RESULTS

PSMU was found to be positively associated with anxiety (r = 0.28, p < 0.05), depression (r = 0.35, p < 0.01), and social fear (r = 0.38, p < 0.01), but not with loneliness (r = 0.19, p = 0.15). Participants with a tendency toward PSMU displayed AB toward SM-related cues in the DPT [F (1, 58) = 26.77, p < 0.001, ηp2 = 0.32], but not in the Stroop task [F (1, 58) = 0.61, p = 0.44, ηp2 = 0.01]. Moreover, AB toward SM-related stimuli was found to be positively correlated with the severity of PSMU (r = -0.51, p < 0.001), anxiety (r = -0.37, p < 0.01), depression (r = -0.51, p < 0.001), and social fear (r = -0.30, p < 0.05) in the DPT.

CONCLUSIONS

Problematic users of SM show AB towards SM-related cues in the DPT, which is more reliable for assessing AB than the Stroop task. Moreover, it is suggested that in clinical interventions we should work to change the AB towards SM-related stimuli and improve negative emotions to decrease risks of PSMU.

The Mediating Roles of Anxiety, Depression, Sleepiness, Insomnia, and Sleep Quality in the Association between Problematic Social Media Use and Quality of Life among Patients with Cancer

The present study examined the mediating role of anxiety, depression, sleepiness, insomnia, and sleep quality in the association between problematic social media use and quality of life (QoL) among patients with cancer. This cross-sectional survey study recruited 288 patients with cancer to respond to measures on anxiety, depression, sleepiness, insomnia, sleep quality, problematic social media use, and QoL. Structural Equation Modeling was used for the mediation analysis. There were significant relationships between all of the variables used in the study. It was revealed that problematic social media use did not directly influence the QoL of patients with cancer except via anxiety, depression, sleepiness, and insomnia. Sleep quality did not mediate the association between problematic social media use and QoL. Healthcare workers managing cancer should pay attention to the mental health needs of their patients even as they treat their cancer so as to improve their quality of life. Future studies may examine other variables that affect the QoL of patients with cancer as well as other mediating and moderating variables.

Applying network analysis to understand the relationships between impulsivity and social media addiction and between impulsivity and problematic smartphone use

BACKGROUND

Prior studies have revealed the relationships between impulsivity and social media addiction (SMA) and between impulsivity and problematic smartphone use (PSU) based on total scores on standardized self-report scales. However, there has been a lack of studies exploring how the dimensions of impulsivity and components of SMA or PSU are interrelated. The present study aimed to investigate the structural relationships between the dimensions of impulsivity and components of SMA and PSU and determine the critical bridge node using network analysis.

METHODS

A total of 325 healthy adults aged 18-36 years participated in the study. SMA and PSU were assessed using the Bergen Social Media Addiction Scale (BSMAS) and Smartphone Application-Based Addiction Scale (SABAS), respectively. Impulsivity was measured by the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale Version 11 (BIS-11). Network analysis was used to construct an SMA-Impulsivity network and a PSU-Impulsivity network. Bridge centrality (bridge expected influence, BEI) was estimated to identify influential bridge nodes.

RESULTS

In addition to relationships within each community, network analysis revealed that the dimensions of impulsivity were closely associated with the components of SMA and PSU. Particularly, I2 "motor impulsivity" had a relatively strong connection with SMA3 "mood modification" and SMA4 "relapse" in the SMA-Impulsivity network, and with PSU2 "conflict" and PSU5 "withdrawal" in the PSU-Impulsivity network. Moreover, I2 "motor impulsivity" was identified as the most critical bridge node in both networks.

CONCLUSION

These findings demonstrate potential pathways between different dimensions of impulsivity and the components of SMA and PSU, providing new evidence relevant to understanding the underlying mechanisms that account for how highly impulsive individuals develop SMA and PSU, and highlight the critical bridge node-motor impulsivity-that may be a promising and effective target for the prevention and treatment of SMA and PSU.