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

Social anxiety and problematic social media use: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Some theories posit a close relationship between social anxiety and problematic social media use; however, empirical findings are inconsistent, and existing hypotheses are conflicting. Hence, we conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to clarify the relationship between social anxiety and problematic social media use. After searching and screening the literature, we identified 53 studies, including 59,928 participants and 56 effect sizes, for analysis. A meta-analysis was subsequently performed using CMA software. Results showed that social anxiety and problematic social media use were highly positively correlated. The moderating effect results suggested that the relationship between social anxiety and problematic social media use was influenced by the measurement instrument, sex, publication year, and platform type; however, the relationship was not moderated by region and age. It is suggested to consider social anxiety in the treatment of problematic social media use.

Association between problematic social networking use and anxiety symptoms: a systematic review and meta-analysis

A growing number of studies have reported that problematic social networking use (PSNU) is strongly associated with anxiety symptoms. However, due to the presence of multiple anxiety subtypes, existing research findings on the extent of this association vary widely, leading to a lack of consensus. The current meta-analysis aimed to summarize studies exploring the relationship between PSNU levels and anxiety symptoms, including generalized anxiety, social anxiety, attachment anxiety, and fear of missing out. 209 studies with a total of 172 articles were included in the meta-analysis, involving 252,337 participants from 28 countries. The results showed a moderately positive association between PSNU and generalized anxiety (GA), social anxiety (SA), attachment anxiety (AA), and fear of missing out (FoMO) respectively (GA: r = 0.388, 95% CI [0.362, 0.413]; SA: r = 0.437, 95% CI [0.395, 0.478]; AA: r = 0.345, 95% CI [0.286, 0.402]; FoMO: r = 0.496, 95% CI [0.461, 0.529]), and there were different regulatory factors between PSNU and different anxiety subtypes. This study provides the first comprehensive estimate of the association of PSNU with multiple anxiety subtypes, which vary by time of measurement, region, gender, and measurement tool.

The Impact of Problematic Social Media Use on Inhibitory Control and the Role of Fear of Missing Out: Evidence from Event-Related Potentials

Introduction

The general deficit in inhibitory control of problematic social media users has received widespread attention. However, the neural correlates of problematic social media use (PSMU) and inhibitory control remain unclear. Additionally, the co-occurrence of the fear of missing out (FoMO) with social media use is common, yet its role in the relationship between PSMU and inhibitory control has not been investigated.

Methods

This study aimed to examine the electrophysiological correlates of PSMU and inhibitory control using a modified two-choice oddball task combined with event-related potentials (ERPs), and to explore the role of FoMO in this relationship. A total of 66 participants with varying degrees of PSMU were included in the analysis based on the Problematic Mobile Social Media Usage Questionnaire.

Results

The study found that PSMU could impact inhibitory control. Specifically, as the PSMU score increases, the N2 amplitude is greater for social media-related pictures, and the P3 amplitude is smaller, while no significant differences are observed for neutral pictures. This suggests that PSMU affects inhibitory control by consuming more cognitive resources in the early conflict detection stage and leading to insufficient cognitive resources in the later stages of the inhibitory process. Furthermore, FoMO played a mediating role between PSMU and inhibitory control. PSMU could further impact inhibitory control through FoMO.

Conclusion

This study provides electrophysiological evidence for deficits in inhibitory control in PSMU and suggests that FoMO may further reduce inhibitory control in PSMU individuals.

Restricting social networking site use for one week produces varied effects on mood but does not increase explicit or implicit desires to use SNSs: Findings from an ecological momentary assessment study

Recent research on the addictive potential of modern technologies such as the internet, smartphones, or social networking sites (SNSs) has suggested that emotional and motivational changes associated with the sudden discontinuation of engagement with the technology mirror the aversive consequences seen when drug use is ceased abruptly. This has been observed even in moderate users and interpreted as a manifestation of withdrawal, an important marker of physical dependence in substance use disorders. On the other hand, a growing literature emphasises the positive effects of "digital detox" on mental health and well-being. Using a battery of affective and motivational measures, both explicit and implicit, the present study tracked the effects of a week of significantly reduced SNS use in moderate to heavy SNS users (N = 51). Our pre-registered analyses showed that the intervention elicited affective changes neither consistent with a general withdrawal syndrome (i.e., increased negative affect and cravings) nor with a general beneficial effect on well-being: While our data indicated some abstinence-related decreases of negative affect and boredom, they also showed a reduction of positive affect. These changes occurred regardless of problematic/addictive use behaviours. Importantly, restricting SNS use for one week had no effect on implicit measures of SNS use motivation (i.e., approach biases, time distortion and effort expenditure for SNS access) nor did it influence explicit cravings and SNS cue-reactivity. Together our findings suggest that restricting SNS use has nuanced and potentially offsetting effects on well-being. These could arise because use reduction may concurrently remove experiences that trigger negative emotions (e.g., upward social comparisons or Fear of Missing Out) but also those that elicit positive emotions (e.g., social approval). The hypothesised lack of a net effect on well-being would be consistent with our finding that voluntary reduction of SNS use does not mitigate or exacerbate SNS-related urges.

Implicit cognitions in problematic social network use

Implicit cognitions may be involved in the development and maintenance of specific Internet use disorders such as problematic social network use (PSNU). In more detail, implicit attitude, attentional biases, approach and avoidance tendencies as well as semantic memory associations are considered relevant in the context of PSNU. This viewpoint article summarizes the available literature on implicit cognitions in PSNU. We systematically reviewed articles of implicit cognitions in PSNU from PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, and ProQuest databases based on a targeted search strategy and assessed using predefined inclusion and exclusion criteria. The present findings suggest that specific implicit cognitions are important in the context of PSNU and therefore show parallels to other addictive behaviors. However, the empirical evidence is limited to a few studies on this topic. Implicit cognitions in PSNU should be explored in more depth and in the context of other affective and cognitive mechanisms in future work.

Bored with boredom? Trait boredom predicts internet addiction through the mediating role of attentional bias toward social networks

Internet addiction is an emerging issue, impacting people's psychosocial functioning and well-being. However, the prevalence and the mechanisms underlying internet misuse are largely unknown. As with other behavioral addiction disorders, the increase and persistence of internet addiction may be favored by negative affect such as boredom. In this study, we examined the role of boredom susceptibility, as a personality trait, in predicting the risk of internet addiction. Furthermore, we analyzed the attentional mechanisms that may exacerbate dysfunctional internet behaviors. Specifically, we assessed the mediating role of attentional bias toward social media cues on the relation between boredom susceptibility and internet addiction. Sixty-nine young adults were administered a dot-probe task assessing internet-related attentional bias (AB) and questionnaires measuring internet addiction (IAT) and boredom susceptibility (BS-BSSS). Correlation and t-test analyses confirmed that the tendency to experience boredom and selective attention toward social network information was related to internet addiction. Furthermore, the mediation model indicated that AB fully explains the link between BS-BSSS and IAT. The study highlighted the crucial role of selective attentional processing behind internet addiction. The current results are useful for both researchers and clinicians as they suggest that intervention programs for internet addiction should include strategies to cope with dysfunctional cognitive processes.