Problematic social networking site use and associations with anxiety, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and resilience

Abstract

Abstract Background Social networking sites (SNSs) such as Facebook, Snapchat, and Instagram are now used frequently by millions of people worldwide. However, there are concerns of problematic social networking site use (PSNSU) and psychopathological symptoms that may be co-morbid with this behaviour. The present study investigated the interactions between PSNSU severity, time spent on SNSs, anxiety severity, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) severity, and resilience levels. Method A total of 458 SNS users (mean age\xa0=\xa032.35 years, SD\xa0=\xa010.44) completed an online survey consisting of measures assessing PSNSU severity, anxiety severity, ADHD severity, and resilience levels. Results Bivariate correlations identified moderate positive correlations between PSNSU severity, time spent on SNSs, anxiety severity, and ADHD severity, and a negative correlation between PSNSU severity and resilience levels. The moderated regression analyses revealed that anxiety severity as well as the interaction of anxiety severity and resilience levels significantly explained 28.6% of the variance in PSNSU severity. The simple slopes analysis was calculated indicating the main effect of anxiety severity. Furthermore, ADHD severity was also a significant predictor of PSNSU severity, but there was no significant interaction effect with resilience levels. Additional analysis illustrated that both variables investigating psychopathological symptoms significantly interact in predicting PSNSU severity. There was no significant effect of the three-way interaction between anxiety severity, ADHD severity, and resilience levels. Conclusion The study showed that anxiety severity and ADHD severity are risk factors in the development of PSNSU severity and resilience levels may have a preventive effect, which must be investigated in further studies.