Mediated effects of insomnia in the association between problematic social media use and subjective well-being among university students during COVID-19 pandemic

Recently, the use of social media has penetrated many aspects of our daily lives. Therefore, it has stimulated much debate and polarisation regarding its impact on mental well-being. The present study investigated the association between problematic use of social media, subjective well-being, and insomnia's potential mediator. A proportionate random sample was collected from a Univerity in Algeria between March and April 2020.The participants (n=288; mean [SD] age = 20.83 [2.13]) involved 101 (35.1%) males. Nearly three-fourths of the participants (n=214; 74.3%) used up more-than three hours daily surfing on social media. Their mean (SD) score was 15.64 (4.80) on the Bergan Social Media Addiction Scale, 16.19 (9.15) on the Arabic Scale of Insomnia, and 28.13 (7.90) on the overall subjective well-being. Structural equation modeling (SEM) revealed an indirect correlation between problematic use of social media and the overall subjective well-being of users. Similarly, the indirect but not direct effects were found for the overall subjective well-being subdomains. Moreover, all SEM models have a satisfactory fit with the data. Based on the results, it can be concluded that insomnia appears to play an important role in mediating the association between subjective well-being and problematic social media use. This suggests the importance of tackling the issues of insomnia and problematic use of social media for university students. It also has important implications in dealing with the misuse of social media, especially during the covid-19 pandemic.

Tracing 20 years of research on problematic use of the internet and social media: Theoretical models, assessment tools, and an agenda for future work

Over the past two decades, there has been increasing interest in the impact of internet use and growing concern about whether problematic use of the internet (PUI) constitutes an addiction. Despite the growing number of studies investigating PUI and PUI subtypes, its conceptualization and inclusion in a classification system have not been possible yet. Several models aimed at inspiring clinical research and practice have proposed possible mechanisms involved in PUI and problematic use of social media, and multiple self-report instruments have been consequentially developed. The diversity of theoretical models and instruments currently hinders standardized assessment procedures across studies and, in turn, their comparability. The purpose of the present overview is to highlight the current conceptualization and assessment of both PUI and problematic use of social media, in order to critically discuss the existing fragmentation in the field and the need to achieve conceptual convergence. Two suggestions for future directions are also provided, i.e., define diagnostic criteria by bottom-up and top-down processes and develop a psychobiological hypothesis including the description of higher-order mechanisms involved in PUI and not other psychopathological conditions (e.g., the multiple available internet-related cues and outcomes that may lead to parallel forms of associative learning; probabilities of obtaining internet-related reinforcements; and intrinsic motivation processes).

Problematic social media use is statistically predicted by using social media for coping motives and by positive reinforcement processes in individuals with high COVID-19-related stress levels

It is important to understand the relationship between stress and problematic use of social media (PUSM). However, no study to our knowledge has yet investigated the longitudinal relationship between perceived stress and PUSM via positive and negative reinforcement processes. The present study investigated relationships between COVID-19-pandemic-related stress and PUSM and possible moderating effects of motives for using social media (positive and/or negative reinforcement) during and following a COVID-19-pandemic-related lockdown. Six-hundred-and-sixty participants initially completed a survey including self-report measures of PUSM, COVID-19-pandemic-related stress, and motives for using social media (i.e., for negative reinforcement involving coping and conformity or positive reinforcements involving enhancement and social motives). During the COVID-19 outbreak recovery period, 117 participants again completed the survey. Bayesian analyses revealed that PUSM was associated with higher COVID-19-pandemic-related stress levels and use of social media for coping, conformity, and enhancement purposes. Longitudinally, PUSM symptom worsening was associated with increased use of social media for coping motives regardless of levels of perceived stress. Use of social media for conformity and enhancement purposes moderated relationships between stress levels during lockdown and PUSM symptoms worsening after lockdown. Our findings corroborate the hypothesis that negative reinforcement processes may be key factors in PUSM symptom worsening regardless of perceived stress. Concurrently, high levels of stress may worsen PUSM through positive reinforcement processes.

Problematic use of social media: The influence of social environmental forces and the mediating role of copresence

People's dependence on technology in the digital environment has increasingly become the focus of academic and social attention. Social media, in particular, with the functions of connecting with others and maintaining interactions, has become an inseparable part of people's lives. Although the formation of problematic use of social media has been extensively discussed by scholars, it is mainly confined to the individual level and lacks a macro perspective from the external environment. This study draws on the perspective of institutional theory and introduces copresence as a mediating role, aiming to investigate the influence mechanism of social environmental forces on individuals' problematic use of social media. An online survey (N = 462) was conducted to collect data and test the research model. Our data were analyzed using the structural equation modeling (SEM) approach. Results show that social environmental forces exert an impact on problematic use of social media through the sense of copresence, and only mimetic force can directly affect behavior outcomes while the other two forces can not. Besides, social environmental forces have a relationship with people's sense of copresence while using social media. Among them, mimetic force and normative force positively correlate with copresence while coercive force is negatively related to copresence. Furthermore, copresence is found to influence problematic use of social media positively. Practical and theoretical implications are discussed.

Potential use of large language models for mitigating students' problematic social media use: ChatGPT as an example

The problematic use of social media has numerous negative impacts on individuals' daily lives, interpersonal relationships, physical and mental health, and more. Currently, there are few methods and tools to alleviate problematic social media, and their potential is yet to be fully realized. Emerging large language models (LLMs) are becoming increasingly popular for providing information and assistance to people and are being applied in many aspects of life. In mitigating problematic social media use, LLMs such as ChatGPT can play a positive role by serving as conversational partners and outlets for users, providing personalized information and resources, monitoring and intervening in problematic social media use, and more. In this process, we should recognize both the enormous potential and endless possibilities of LLMs such as ChatGPT, leveraging their advantages to better address problematic social media use, while also acknowledging the limitations and potential pitfalls of ChatGPT technology, such as errors, limitations in issue resolution, privacy and security concerns, and potential overreliance. When we leverage the advantages of LLMs to address issues in social media usage, we must adopt a cautious and ethical approach, being vigilant of the potential adverse effects that LLMs may have in addressing problematic social media use to better harness technology to serve individuals and society.

A rise in social media use in adolescents during the COVID-19 pandemic: the French validation of the Bergen Social Media Addiction Scale in a Canadian cohort

INTRODUCTION

Social media use has grown dramatically since its inception in the early 2000s and has further increased during the COVID-19 pandemic. Problematic use of social media (PUSM) is a type of behavioural addiction which has generated increasing interest among mental health clinicians and scholars in the last decade. PUSM is associated with multiple psychiatric conditions and is known to interfere with patients' daily functioning. There is no single accepted definition of PUSM, nor means of measuring it, in the literature. The Bergen Social Media Addiction Scale (BSMAS) is a helpful tool for identifying PUSM. This paper aims to validate BSMAS and to translate it from English into French, with the goal of making this clinical screening tool for PUSM available in French-language contexts.

METHOD

This study explored the psychometric validity of the French version of the BSMAS in a sample of 247 adolescents, who were either psychiatric inpatients (the hospitalized group, n = 123) or recruited in local high schools (the community group, n = 124).

RESULTS

The adolescents in the sample reported an increase in their social media use during the COVID-19 pandemic. This increase was more pronounced in the hospitalized group. Confirmatory factorial analysis showed an excellent fit, very good internal consistency and established convergent validity for the French version of the BSMAS. A total of 15.4% of the hospitalization group and 6.5% of the community group met the recommended clinical cutoff of 24 on the BSMAS, suggesting problematic use of social media.

CONCLUSIONS

The French version of BSMAS is a psychometrically validated and clinically useful tool to screen for PUSM in adolescents.

Problematic social media use and psychological symptoms in adolescents

PURPOSE

This study examined time trends in significant child and adolescent psychological symptoms and explored the association of frequent and problematic social media use with these symptoms.

METHODS

Time trends in psychological symptoms were assessed using data from five waves of the international survey of Health Behavior in School-aged Children (HBSC), conducted between 2001 and 2018 (N = 1,036,869). The associations of frequent and problematic social media use with significant psychological symptoms were assessed by hierarchical multinomial logistic regression using data from 2001-2002 and the 2017-2018 survey waves. The direction of effect between social media use variables and psychological symptoms was explored using Linear Non-Gaussian Acyclic Models (LiNGAM).

RESULTS

Prevalence of more severe psychological symptoms increased from 6.7% in 2001-2002 to 10.4% in the 2017-2018 survey waves. The increase was especially large among 15-year old and older girls: from 10.9 to 19.1%. The higher prevalence of more severe psychological symptoms in 2017-2018 compared with 2001-2002 was eliminated after adjusting the model for problematic social media use. LiNGAM analysis supported the direction of effect going from social media use and problematic social media use to psychological symptoms.

CONCLUSIONS

The findings suggest that frequent and problematic use of social media contribute to the increasing trend of psychological symptoms in adolescents in recent years.

EFL learners' problematic use of social media usage, classroom anxiety, perfectionism, and language attainment: correlations and perceptions

BACKGROUND

The effect of social media (SM) on university students' educational progress and mental health has been studied in various contexts. However, the correlation between Chinese EFL learners' use of SM (problematic and non-problematic) and their language achievement, foreign language anxiety, and perfectionism requires further investigation.

OBJECTIVES

To address this gap, a mixed-method research design was utilized. This study recruited 480 English language learners from Ningbo University of Finance and Economics in China using convenience sampling.

METHOD

SM usage questionnaires, a perfectionism scale, a foreign language anxiety scale, self-assessment grids (CEFR) developed by the Council of Europe, and an interview checklist were used to collect data. Descriptive statistics (mean and SD) and Pearson correlation coefficient for each question were analyzed using SPSS. Thematic analysis was used to analyze the interviews.

RESULTS

The results revealed that problematic use of social media is associated with several negative consequences, such as low language achievement, high foreign language anxiety level, high academic burnout, and negative aspects of perfectionism.

CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS

These findings have theoretical and practical implications for language learners and teachers. The results can inform language educators about the potential negative effects of problematic SM use on language learning outcomes, mental health, and well-being. It is important to raise awareness of problematic SM use and to promote healthy SM habits among language learners. Additionally, the study highlights the importance of promoting the non-problematic use of SM as a potential resource to enhance language learning outcomes.