Abstract
Social media has expanded the scope and method of interpersonal communication, and presents the risk of social media addiction as well. This study reported the psychometrics of the Bergen Social Media Addiction Scale (BSMAS) and further analyzed the moderating role of peer relationship on the association between negative emotions and risk of social media addiction. A total of 1258 survey participants were asked to complete a set of scales online. Exploratory structural equation modeling enabled BSMAS to reveal a solid one-factor structure with satisfactory internal consistency coefficient. Criterion-related validity and variance explanation rate analysis implied a positive relationship between negative emotions and risk of social media addiction, and identified the significant contributions of negative emotions and peer relationship to the risk of social media addiction. Moderation analysis demonstrated that peer relationship positively moderated the effect of negative emotions on the risk of social media addiction. However, gender was not a moderator affecting negative emotions on the risk of social media addiction. BSMAS was a valid tool for measuring the risk of social media addiction among Chinese adolescents. Lastly, peer relationship is a positive moderator in influencing negative emotions and risk of social media addiction.
Similar content being viewed by others
Data Availability
The data sets generated during and/or analyzed in the current study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
References
Allen, K. A., Ryan, T., Gray, D. L. L., Mcinerney, D. M., & Waters, L. (2014). Social media use and social connectedness in adolescents: The positives and the potential pitfalls. Australian Educational and Developmental Psychologist, 31(1), 18–31. https://doi.org/10.1017/edp.2014.2.
American Psychiatric Association (Ed.). (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed.). American Psychiatric Association.
Andreassen, C. S. (2015). Online social network site addiction: A comprehensive review. Current Addiction Reports, 2(2), 175–184. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40429-015-0056-9.
Andreassen, C. S., Billieux, J., Griffiths, M. D., Kuss, D. J., Demetrovics, Z., Mazzoni, E., & Pallesen, S. (2016). The relationship between addictive use of social media and video games and symptoms of psychiatric disorders: A large-scale cross-sectional study. Psychology of Addictive Behaviors: Journal of the Society of Psychologists in Addictive Behaviors, 30(2), 252–262. https://doi.org/10.1037/adb0000160.
Andreassen, C. S., & Pallesen, S. (2014). Social network site addiction - an overview. Current Pharmaceutical Design, 20(25), 4053–4061. https://doi.org/10.2174/13816128113199990616.
Andreassen, C. S., Torsheim, T., Brunborg, G. S., & Pallesen, S. (2012). Development of a Facebook addiction scale. Psychological Reports, 110(2), 501–517. https://doi.org/10.2466/02.09.18.PR0.110.2.501-517.
Aylin, T.-Ü., & Levent, D. (2015). Development of the social media addiction scale. AJIT-e:Online Academic Journal of Information Technology, 6(21), 51–69. https://doi.org/10.5824/1309-1581.2015.4.004.x.
Aytürk, E., Cham, H., Jennings, P. A., & Brown, J. L. (2020). Exploring the performance of latent moderated structural equations approach for ordered-categorical items. Structural Equation Modeling: A Multidisciplinary Journal, 1–13, doi:https://doi.org/10.1080/10705511.2020.1810047.
Banyai, F., Zsila, A., Kiraly, O., Maraz, A., Elekes, Z., Griffiths, M. D., et al. (2017). Problematic social media use: Results from a large-scale nationally representative adolescent sample. PLoS One, 12(1), e0169839. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0169839.
Bilgin, O., & Tas, I. (2018). Effects of perceived social support and psychological resilience on social media addiction among university students. Universal Journal of Educational Research, 6(4), 751–758. https://doi.org/10.13189/ujer.2018.060418.
Christopher Westland, J. (2010). Lower bounds on sample size in structural equation modeling. Electronic Commerce Research and Applications, 9(6), 476–487. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.elerap.2010.07.003.
David, D., Szentagotai, A., Eva, K., & Macavei, B. (2005). A synopsis of rational-emotive behavior therapy (REBT); fundamental and applied research. Journal of Rational-Emotive and Cognitive-Behavior Therapy, 23(3), 175–221. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10942-005-0011-0.
Davis, R. A. (2001). A cognitive-behavioral model of pathological internet use. Computers in Human Behavior, 17(2), 187-195, doi:10720628.
Dejong, S. M. (2014). Problematic internet use: A case of social media addiction. Adolescent Psychiatry, 4(2), 112–115. https://doi.org/10.2174/221067660402140709122403.
Dewalt, D. A., Thissen, D., Stucky, B. D., Langer, M. M., Morgan Dewitt, E., Irwin, D. E., et al. (2013). PROMIS pediatric peer relationships scale: Development of a peer relationships item bank as part of social health measurement. Health Psychology, 32(10), 1093–1103. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0032670.
Duan, W., He, C., & Tang, X. (2020). Why do people browse and post on WeChat moments? Relationships among fear of missing out, strategic self-presentation, and online social anxiety. Cyberpsychology, Behavior and Social Networking, 23(10), 708–714. https://doi.org/10.1089/cyber.2019.0654.
Dwyer, C. Digital relationships in the "MySpace" generation: results from a qualitative study. In Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences, Waikoloa, HI, USA, 2007 (pp. 19): IEEE. doi:https://doi.org/10.1109/HICSS.2007.176.
Esgi, N. (2016). Development of social media addiction test (SMAT17). Journal of Education and Training Studies, 4(10), 174–181. https://doi.org/10.11114/jets.v4i10.1803.
Franken, I. H., & Wiers, R. W. (2013). Motivationele processen bij verslaving: de rol van craving, salience en aandacht [motivational processes in addiction: The role of craving, salience and attention]. Tijdschrift voor psychiatrie. Tijdschrift voor psychiatrie, 55(11), 833-840. From https://hdl.handle.net/11245/1.404315
Gholamian, B., Shahnazi, H., & Hassanzadeh, A. (2017). The prevalence of internet addiction and its association with depression, anxiety, and stress, among high-school students. International Journal of Pediatrics, 5(4), 4763–4770. https://doi.org/10.22038/ijp.2017.22516.1883.
Giordano, P. C. (2003). Relationships in adolescence. Annual Review of Sociology, 29(29), 257–281. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.soc.29.010202.100047.
Griffiths, M., Kuss, D., & Demetrovics, Z. (2014). Social Networking Addiction: An Overview of Preliminary Findings (behavioral addictions). Academic Press.
Guo, Y., & He, X.-C. (2017). Meta-analysis of the relationship between college students' social support and mobile phone addiction in China. Journal of Sichuan Normal University, 44(6), 91–101. https://doi.org/10.13734/j.cnki.1000-5315.2017.06.013.
Hoe, S. (2008). Issues and procedures in adopting structural equation modeling technique. Journal of Applied Quantitative Methods, 3, 76-83. From http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.497.1504
Howell, C. R., Thompson, L. A., Gross, H. E., Reeve, B. B., DeWalt, D. A., & Huang, I. C. (2016). Responsiveness to change in PROMIS® measures among children with asthma: A report from the PROMIS® pediatric asthma study. Value in Health, 19(2), 192–201. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jval.2015.12.004.
Hu, L. T., & Bentler, P. M. (1999). Cut off criteria for fit indexes in covariance structure anaysis: Conventional criteria versus new alternatives. Structural Equation Modeling, 6(1), 1–55. https://doi.org/10.1080/10705519909540118.
International Telecommunication Union (2017). ICT: Facts and figures 2017. from https://www.itu.int/en/ITU-D/Statistics/Documents/facts/ICTFactsFigures2017.pdf
Joel, L. (2015). 12 social media facts and statistics you should know in 2016. From https://www.makeuseof.com/tag/12-social-media-facts-statistics-know-2016/.
Kaplan, A. M., & Haenlein, M. (2010). Users of the world, unite! The challenges and opportunities of social media. Business Horizons, 53(1), 59–68. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bushor.2009.09.003.
Katarzyna, K. C. (2011). Modelling excessive internet use:Revision of R. Davis's cognitive-Behavioural model of pathological internet use. Polish Psychological Bulletin, 42(3), 129–139. https://doi.org/10.2478/v10059-011-0018-6.
Kim, H. S., Kim, S. Y., & Park, H. (2016). A study on the moderating effects of social support for Oiettolie propensity adolescent in the process of internet game addiction. Journal of the Korea Society of Computer and Information, 21(10), 149–156. https://doi.org/10.9708/jksci.2016.21.10.149.
Kim, J. U. (2008). The effect of a R/T group counseling program on the internet addiction level and self-esteem of internet addiction university students. International Journal of Reality Therapy 27(2), 4-13. From http://en.whu.findplus.cn/?h=articles&db=pbh&an=31818863
Kit, S. (2018). Marketing: 110 amazing social media statistics and facts. From https://www.brandwatch.com/blog/96-amazing-social-media-statistics-and-facts/.
Kuss, D. J., & Griffiths, M. D. (2011). Online social networking and addiction--a review of the psychological literature. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 8(9), 3528–3552. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph8093528.
Kuss, D. J., & Griffiths, M. D. (2017). Social networking sites and addiction: Ten lessons learned. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 14(3), e311. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph14030311.
Kuss, D. J., Griffiths, M. D., & Binder, J. F. (2013). Internet addiction in students: Prevalence and risk factors. Computers in Human Behavior, 29(3), 959–966. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2012.12.024.
Lee, J., Kim, H., & Kang, J. (2017). The effect of loneliness on SNS addiction : Moderating effect of interpersonal relations orientation and its gender difference. Korean Journal of Clinical Psychology, 36(2), 154–164. https://doi.org/10.15842/kjcp.2017.36.2.002.
Leung, H., Pakpour, A. H., Strong, C., Lin, Y.-C., Tsai, M.-C., Griffiths, M. D., Lin, C. Y., & Chen, I. H. (2020). Measurement invariance across young adults from Hong Kong and Taiwan among three internet-related addiction scales: Bergen social media addiction scale (BSMAS), smartphone application-based addiction scale (SABAS), and internet gaming disorder scale-short form (IGDS-SF9) (study part a). Addictive Behaviors, 101, 105969. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.addbeh.2019.04.027.
Lin, C. Y., Broström, A., Nilsen, P., Griffiths, M. D., & Pakpour, A. H. (2017). Psychometric validation of the Persian Bergen social media addiction scale using classic test theory and Rasch models. Journal of Behavioral Addictions, 6(4), 620–629. https://doi.org/10.1556/2006.6.2017.071.
Liu, Q., Fang, X., Wan, J., & Zhou, Z. (2016). Need satisfaction and adolescent pathological internet use: Comparison of satisfaction perceived online and offline. Computers in Human Behavior, Part B(55), 695-701, doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2015.09.048.
Liu, Y., Yuan, C., Wang, J., Shen, N., Shen, M., & Hinds, P. S. (2019). Chinese version of pediatric patient-reported outcomes measurement information system short form measures: Reliability, validity, and factorial structure assessment in children with cancer in China. Cancer Nursing, 42(6), 430–438. https://doi.org/10.1097/ncc.0000000000000633.
Lovibond, S. H., & Lovibond, P. F. (1995). Manual for the depression anxiety stress scales. Psychology Foundation of Australia.
Manago, A. M., & Vaughn, L. (2015). Social media, friendship, and happiness in the millennial generation. In Friendship and happiness: Across the life-span and cultures (pp. 187–206). Netherlands: Springer.
Mandarino, K. (2014). Transitional-age youths: Barriers to accessing adult mental health services and the changing definition of adolescence. Journal of Human Behavior in the Social Environment, 24(4), 462–474. https://doi.org/10.1080/10911359.2013.835760.
Marchant, A., Hawton, K., Stewart, A., Montgomery, P., Singaravelu, V., Lloyd, K., Purdy, N., Daine, K., & John, A. (2017). A systematic review of the relationship between internet use, self-harm and suicidal behaviour in young people: The good, the bad and the unknown. PLoS One, 12(8), e0181722. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0181722.
Monacis, L., Palo, V. D., Griffiths, M. D., & Sinatra, M. (2017). Social networking addiction, attachment style, and validation of the Italian version of the Bergen social media addiction scale. Journal of Behavioral Addictions, 6(2), 178–186. https://doi.org/10.1556/2006.6.2017.023.
Mu, W., & Duan, W. (2017). Evaluating the construct validity of stress overload scale-short using exploratory structural equation modeling. Journal of Health Psychology, 1359105317738322, doi:https://doi.org/10.1177/1359105317738322.
Muthén, L. K., & Muthén, B. O. (1998-2012). Mplus User’s Guide (Sixth ed.). Muthén & Muthén.
Narayanappa, V. (2015). Assessing the fundamental interpersonal relations orienitation behaviour of the student teachers at secondary teacher training level. EPRA International Journal of Economic and Business Review, 3(9), 78-80. From http://epratrust.com/articles/upload/12.Dr.%20Venkoba%20Narayanappa.pdf
United Nations. (2016). United Nations youth issues. Definition of youth. from http://www.un.org/zh/events/youth/index.shtml
Nesi, J., & Prinstein, M. J. (2015). Using social Media for Social Comparison and Feedback-Seeking: Gender and popularity moderate associations with depressive symptoms. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 43(8), 1427–1438. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10802-015-0020-0.
Norton, P. J. (2007). Depression anxiety and stress scales (DASS-21): Psychometric analysis across four racial groups. Anxiety, Stress, and Coping, 20(3), 253–265. https://doi.org/10.1080/10615800701309279.
Podsakoff, P. M., MacKenzie, S. B., & Podsakoff, N. P. (2012). Sources of method bias in social science research and recommendations on how to control it. Annual Review of Psychology, 63(1), 539–569. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-psych-120710-100452.
Pontes, H. M., Andreassen, C. S., & Griffiths, M. D. (2016). Portuguese validation of the Bergen Facebook addiction scale: An empirical study. International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction, 14(6), 1062–1073. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11469-016-9694-y.
Sasmaz, T., Oner, S., Kurt, A. Ö., Yapici, G., Yazici, A. E., Bugdayci, R., & Sis, M. (2014). Prevalence and risk factors of internet addiction in high school students. European Journal of Public Health, 24(1), 15–20. https://doi.org/10.1093/eurpub/ckt051.
Tang, J., Yu, Y., Du, Y., Ma, Y., Zhang, D., & Wang, J. (2014). Prevalence of internet addiction and its association with stressful life events and psychological symptoms among adolescent internet users. Addictive Behaviors, 39(3), 744–747. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.addbeh.2013.12.010.
Timothy, A., & Brown. (2006). Confirmatory factor analysis for applied research. Guilford.
Twenge, J. M., & Martin, G. N. (2020). Gender differences in associations between digital media use and psychological well-being: Evidence from three large datasets. Journal of Adolescence, 79, 91–102. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.adolescence.2019.12.018.
Wang, K., Shi, H.-S., Geng, F.-L., Zou, L.-Q., Tan, S.-P., Wang, Y., Neumann, D. L., Shum, D. H. K., & Chan, R. C. K. (2016). Cross-cultural validation of the depression anxiety stress Scale-21 in China. Psychological Assessment, 28(5), 88–100. https://doi.org/10.1037/pas0000207.
Wang, T., Mu, W., Li, X., Gu, X., & Duan, W. (2020). Cyber-ostracism and wellbeing: A moderated mediation model of need satisfaction and psychological stress. Current Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-020-00997-6.
Xia, C., Xu, J., Yang, X. N., Huang, S., Wu, W. X., & Lin, Y. Q. (2017). Establishment of the norm for self-rated health measurement scale version 1.0 scores in urban elderly people in Shenzhen[深圳市城镇老年人自测健康评定量表得分常模的制定]. Chinese General Practice, 20, 4162–4166. https://doi.org/10.3969/j.issn.1007-9572.2017.00.112.
Xiang, T. (2015). WeChat reaches 1.1B registered accounts, with 440M regular users. From https://technode.com/2015/01/22/wechat-reaches-1-1b-registered-accounts-440m-mau/.
Zhang, J., Dong, Y., & Liu, H. (2016). Meta analysis of students' social support and internet addiction. China Journal of Health Psychology, 24(9), 1324–1329. https://doi.org/10.13342/j.cnki.cjhp.2016.09.013.
Zhang, Y., Yang, Z., Duan, W., Tang, X., Gan, F., Wang, F., Wang, J., Guo, P., & Wang, Y. (2014). A preliminary investigation on the relationship between virtues and pathological internet use among Chinese adolescents. Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health, 8(1), 8. https://doi.org/10.1186/1753-2000-8-8.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
The Human Subjects Ethics Sub-Committee of East China University of Science and Technology approved the ethical compliance of this study.
The authors have no relevant financial or non-financial interests to disclose, except to appreciate financial support from the Program of China Scholarships Council (NO.202008440329).
This study was sponsored by “Shuguang Program” (20SG30) supported by Shanghai Education Development Foundation and Shanghai Municipal Education Commission.
Additional information
Publisher’s Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Huang, L., Zhang, J., Duan, W. et al. Peer relationship increasing the risk of social media addiction among Chinese adolescents who have negative emotions. Curr Psychol 42, 7673–7681 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-021-01997-w
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-021-01997-w