The associations between the problematic social media and smartphone use, social phobia, and self-esteem: a structural equation modeling analysis

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Soraci, P, Pisanti, R, Servidio, R, Holte, AJ, Ferrari, A, Demetrovics, Z and Griffiths, MD ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8880-6524, 2024. The associations between the problematic social media and smartphone use, social phobia, and self-esteem: a structural equation modeling analysis. International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction. ISSN 1557-1874

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Official URL: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11469-024-01375-0

Abstract

Social phobia has often been associated with problematic social media use (PSMU) and problematic smartphone use (PSU). Studies have also shown an association between social phobia and self-esteem. However, no studies have analyzed the relationship between social phobia, self-esteem, PSMU, and PSU in an integrated model. The present study hypothesized that social phobia may influence PSMU and PSU through the role of self-esteem. A cross-sectional study comprising 400 Italians (74.75% female) with a mean age of 37.11 years (SD = ± 10.83) participated in the study that included Rosenberg’s Self-Esteem Scale, Bergen Social Media Addiction Scale, Severity Measure for Social Phobia Disorder, and Smartphone Application-Based Addiction Scale. The results indicated direct positive associations between social phobia and both types of problematic technology use (PSMU and PSU). The results also indicated that self-esteem was a partial mediator in this complex relationship, suggesting that excessive technology use could be a way to compensate for low self-esteem among individuals with social phobia. The present study contributes to the understanding of the psychological mechanisms underlying the relationship between social anxiety, self-esteem, and problematic technology use.

Item Type:	Journal article
Publication Title:	International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction
Creators:	Soraci, P., Pisanti, R., Servidio, R., Holte, A.J., Ferrari, A., Demetrovics, Z. and Griffiths, M.D.
Publisher:	Springer
Date:	3 September 2024
ISSN:	1557-1874
Identifiers:	Number Type 10.1007/s11469-024-01375-0 DOI 2206740 Other
Rights:	© the author(s) 2024. This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
Divisions:	Schools > School of Social Sciences
Record created by:	Jonathan Gallacher
Date Added:	05 Sep 2024 08:08
Last Modified:	05 Sep 2024 08:08
URI:	https://irep.ntu.ac.uk/id/eprint/52170