A biopsychosocial approach to understanding social media addiction. Issue 2 (20th February 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Dailey, Stephanie L.; Howard, Krista; Roming, Sinjin M. P.; Ceballos, Natalie; Grimes, Tom
• Is Part Of: Human behavior and emerging technologies. Volume 2:Issue 2(2020)
• Page Start: 158
• Page End: 167
• Publication Date: 2020-02-20
• Subjects: biopsychosocial approach -- mental health -- problematic social media use -- social media addiction -- social media intensity; Human behavior -- Periodicals; Technological innovations -- Social aspects -- Periodicals; Human-computer interaction -- Periodicals; 303.48305
• DOI: 10.1002/hbe2.182
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2578-1863

Abstract

Abstract: Despite the public's awareness of social media addiction, academic research in this realm remains limited. Filling this gap in the literature, the current study sought to understand predictors of social media addiction across four of the most popular social media platforms: Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, and Instagram. Regression analyses showed support for a biopsychosocial approach, demonstrating that biological (age), social (including gender, intensity of use, need for social media, and social comparison), and psychological factors (specifically stress, empathic concern, conscientiousness, and depression) accounted for over 50% of the explained variance in social media addiction. Findings demonstrate that although younger individuals are highly susceptible to social media addiction, users who manifest empathy toward others may have an enhanced psychological resiliency against addiction.