Social media addiction, personality, psychopathology and gender: Cross-sectional and longitudinal findings in adolescents
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.20882/adicciones.2084Keywords:
social media addiction, psychometric validation, five-factor model of personality, psychopathology, comorbidity, adolescenceAbstract
Social media addiction (SMA) is associated with a wide range of psychological problems in adults, but there are fewer studies about its impact on adolescents. A first step for SMA research in adolescents is to develop instruments to properly examine SMA among them. So the first aim of the current study was to explore the psychometric properties of the Bergen Social Media Addiction Scale (BSMAS) among Spanish adolescents. The study also examined the role of personality in SMA, the associations between SMA and mental health both cross-sectionally and longitudinally, and how these associations may be affected by gender and when personality is considered. A sample of 616 adolescents participated in the study (mean age = 15.01, SD = 1.17, 309 girls), with 1-year follow-up with 222 of them. The BSMAS emerged as a psychometrically sound instrument to assess SMA in adolescents, and showed proper evidence for construct and criterion-related validity, invariance between genders and excellent internal consistency. SMA was related to extraversion, neuroticism and low agreeableness in boys, and to neuroticism, extraversion and lower conscientiousness, openness and agreeableness in girls. SMA showed cross-sectional and longitudinal associations with many psychological problems, with differential associations appearing according to gender, but most disappeared when considering personality. Accordingly, disordered gaming and defiant behaviors predicted SMA after controlling for personality. These findings show the importance of using longitudinal designs and considering personality and gender when examining SMA development and its relations with psychological problems.References
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, 30, 252–262. https://doi.org/10.1037/adb0000160
Andreassen, C. S., Pallesen, S. & Griffiths, M. D. (2017). The relationship between addictive use of social media, narcissism, and self-esteem: Findings from a large national survey. Addictive Behaviors, 64, 287-293. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.addbeh.2016.03.006
Andreassen, C. S., Torsheim, T., Brunborg, G. S. & Pallesen, S. (2012). Development of a Facebook addiction scale. Psychological Reports, 110, 501-517. https://doi.org/10.1037/t33272-000
Andreassen, C. & Pallesen, S. (2014). Social network site addiction-an overview. Current Pharmaceutical Design, 20, 4053-4061. https://doi.org/10.2174/13816128113199990616
Arrivillaga, C., Griffiths, M. D., Rey, L. & Extremera, N. (2024). Validation of the Spanish version of the Bergen Social Media Addiction Scale (BSMAS) among Spanish adolescents. Current Psychology, 43, 31582–31591. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-024-06728-5
Ash, C. & Huebner, E. S. (1998). Life satisfaction reports of gfted middle-school children. School Psychology Quarterly, 13, 310–321. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0088987
Babor, T. F., Higgins-Biddle, J. C., Saunders, J. B. & Monteiro, M. G. (2001). The alcohol use disorders identification test. World Health Organization.
Bányai, F., Zsila, Á., Király, O., Maraz, A., Elekes, Z., Griffiths, M. D., Andreassen, C. S. & Demetrovics, Z. (2017). Problematic Social Media Use: Results from a Large-Scale Nationally Representative Adolescent Sample. Plos One, 12, e0169839. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0169839
Becoña, E. (1997). Pathological Gambling in Spanish Children and Adolescents: An Emerging Problem. Psychological Reports, 81, 275–287. https://doi.org/10.2466/pr0.1997.81.1.275
Beranuy, M., Machimbarrena, J. M., Vega-Osés, M. A., Carbonell, X., Griffiths, M. D., Pontes, H. M. & González-Cabrera, J. (2020). Spanish Validation of the Internet Gaming Disorder Scale–Short Form (IGDS9-SF): Prevalence and Relationship with Online Gambling and Quality of Life. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17, 1562. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17051562
Boer, M., Stevens, G. W. J. M., Finkenauer, C., de Looze, M. E. & van den Eijnden, R. J. J. M. (2021). Social media use intensity, social media use problems, and mental health among adolescents: Investigating directionality and mediating processes. Computers in Human Behavior, 116, 106645. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2020.106645
Bottaro, R., Griffiths, M. D. & Faraci, P. (2025). Meta-analysis of Reliability and Validity of the Bergen Social Media Addiction Scale (BSMAS). International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11469-025-01461-x
Boubeta, A. R., Ferreiro, S. G., Gallego, M. A., Tobio, T. B. & Mallou, J. V. (2017). Validación del” Test de Identificación de Trastornos por Consumo de Alcohol”(AUDIT) en población adolescente española. Behavioral Psychology= Psicología Conductual, 25, 371-386.
Brailovskaia, J. & Margraf, J. (2022). Addictive social media use during Covid-19 outbreak: Validation of the Bergen Social Media Addiction Scale (BSMAS) and investigation of protective factors in nine countries. Current Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-022-03182-z
Brand, M., Young, K. S., Laier, C., Wölfling, K. & Potenza, M. N. (2016). Integrating psychological and neurobiological considerations regarding the development and maintenance of specific Internet-use disorders: An Interaction of Person-Affect-Cognition-Execution (I-PACE) model. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, 71, 252-266. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neubiorev.2016.08.033
Chen, F. F. (2007). Sensitivity of Goodness of Fit Indexes to Lack of Measurement Invariance. Structural Equation Modeling: A Multidisciplinary Journal, 14, 464–504. https://doi.org/10.1080/10705510701301834
Chen, H.T. & Kim, Y. (2013). Problematic Use of Social Network Sites: The Interactive Relationship Between Gratifications Sought and Privacy Concerns. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, 16, 806–812. https://doi.org/10.1089/cyber.2011.0608
Chen, Y., Li, R., Zhang, P. & Liu, X. (2019). The Moderating Role of State Attachment Anxiety and Avoidance Between Social Anxiety and Social Networking Sites Addiction. Psychological Reports, 123, 633–647. https://doi.org/10.1177/0033294118823178
Cheng, C., Lau, Y., Chan, L. & Luk, J. W. (2021). Prevalence of social media addiction across 32 nations: Meta-analysis with subgroup analysis of classification schemes and cultural values. Addictive Behaviors, 117, 106845. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.addbeh.2021.106845
Cheung, G. W. & Rensvold, R. B. (2002). Evaluating Goodness-of-Fit Indexes for Testing Measurement Invariance. Structural Equation Modeling: A Multidisciplinary Journal, 9, 233–255. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15328007sem0902_5
Choi, T. R., Sung, Y., Lee, J.-A. & Choi, S. M. (2017). Get behind my selfies: The Big Five traits and social networking behaviors through selfies. Personality and Individual Differences, 109, 98–101. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2016.12.057
Cohen, J. (1992). A power primer. Psychological Bulletin, 112, 155–159. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.112.1.155
Costa, P. T. & McCrae, R. R. (1992). Normal personality assessment in clinical practice: The NEO Personality Inventory. Psychological Assessment, 4, 5–13. https://doi.org/10.1037/1040-3590.4.1.5
Costa, P. T., Jr., Terracciano, A. & McCrae, R. R. (2001). Gender differences in personality traits across cultures: Robust and surprising findings. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 81, 322–331. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.81.2.322
Duradoni, M., Innocenti, F. & Guazzini, A. (2020). Well-being and social media: A systematic review of Bergen addiction scales. Future Internet, 12, 24. https://doi.org/10.3390/fi12020024
Efrati, Y., Rosenberg, H. & Ophir, Y. (2024). Effective parental strategies against problematic smartphone use among adolescents: A 6-month prospective study. Addictive Behaviors, 154, 108024. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.addbeh.2024.108024
Etkin, P., De Caluwé, E., Ibáñez, M. I., Ortet, G. & Mezquita, L. (2022). Personality development and its associations with the bifactor model of psychopathology in adolescence. Journal of Research in Personality, 97, 104205. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrp.2022.104205
Etkin, P., Ortet-Walker, J., Vidal-Arenas, V., Ortet, G. & Mezquita, L. (2020). Víctima y verdugo: Características de personalidad y psicopatología de los receptores y perpetradores de bullying. Àgora de Salut, VII, 85–93. https://doi.org/10.6035/agorasalut.2020.7.9
Fisher, S. (1993). Gambling and pathological gambling in adolescents. Journal of Gambling Studies, 9, 277–288. https://doi.org/10.1007/bf01015923
Galindez, E. & Casas, F. (2010). Adaptación y validación de la Students’ Life Satisfaction Scale (SLSS) con adolescentes. Estudios de Psicología, 31, 79-87. https://doi.org/10.1174/021093910790744617
Gentile, D. (2009). Pathological Video-Game Use Among Youth Ages 8 to 18. Psychological Science, 20, 594–602. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9280.2009.02340.x
Geurts, S. M., Koning, I. M., Vossen, H. G. M. & van den Eijnden, R. J. J. M. (2022). Rules, role models or overall climate at home? Relative associations of different family aspects with adolescents’ problematic social media use. Comprehensive Psychiatry, 116, 152318. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.comppsych.2022.152318
Griffiths, M. (2005). A ‘components’ model of addiction within a biopsychosocial framework. Journal of Substance use, 10, 191-197. https://doi.org/10.1080/14659890500114359
Hayes, A. F. & Coutts, J. J. (2020). Use Omega Rather than Cronbach’s Alpha for Estimating Reliability. But…. Communication Methods and Measures, 14, 1–24. https://doi.org/10.1080/19312458.2020.1718629
Huang, C. (2022). Social media addiction and personality: A meta‐analysis. Asian Journal of Social Psychology, 25, 747–761. https://doi.org/10.1111/ajsp.12531
Hussain, Z. & Griffiths, M. D. (2018). Problematic social networking site use and comorbid psychiatric disorders: A systematic review of recent large-scale studies. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 9, 686. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2018.00686
Ibáñez, M. I., Ruiperez, M. A., Villa, H., Moya, J. & Ortet, G. (2008). Personality and alcohol use. In G. J. Boyle, G. Matthews, & D. H. Saklofske (Eds.), The SAGE handbook of personality theory and assessment, Vol. 1. Personality theories and models (pp. 677–697). Sage Publications, Inc. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781849200462.n33
Imperatori, C., Panno, A., Carbone, G. A., Corazza, O., Taddei, I., Bernabei, L., Massullo, C., Prevete, E., Tarsitani, L., Pasquini, M., Farina, B., Biondi, M. & Bersani, F. S. (2021). The association between social media addiction and eating disturbances is mediated by muscle dysmorphia-related symptoms: a cross-sectional study in a sample of young adults. Eating and Weight Disorders - Studies on Anorexia, Bulimia and Obesity, 27, 1131–1140. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40519-021-01232-2
Islam, M. S., Jahan, I., Dewan, M. A. A., Pontes, H. M., Koly, K. N., Sikder, M. T. & Rahman, M. (2022). Psychometric properties of three online-related addictive behavior instruments among Bangladeshi school-going adolescents. Plos One, 17, e0279062. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.02790
John, O. P. (2021). History, measurement, and conceptual elaboration of the Big-Five trait taxonomy: The paradigm matures. In John, O.P. & Robins, R.W. (eds), Handbook of personality: Theory and research (pp. 35-82). Guilford Press.
Keles, B., McCrae, N. & Grealish, A. (2019). A systematic review: The influence of social media on depression, anxiety and psychological distress in adolescents. International Journal of Adolescence and Youth, 25, 79–93. https://doi.org/10.1080/02673843.2019.1590851
Keller, M. C. (2014). Gene × Environment Interaction Studies Have Not Properly Controlled for Potential Confounders: The Problem and the (Simple) Solution. Biological Psychiatry, 75, 18–24. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsych.2013.09.006
Kemp, S. (2024). Digital 2024: Global overview report. https://datareportal.com/reports/digital-2024-global-overview-report
Khodarahmi, E., Amanelahi, A. & Abaspour, Z. (2023). Prediction of Social Media Addiction Among Female Adolescents Based on Parent-Adolescent Conflict and Parental Psychological Control. International Journal of High Risk Behaviors and Addiction, 12, e134279. https://doi.org/10.5812/ijhrba-134279
Kim, J. W. & Chock, T. M. (2017). Personality traits and psychological motivations predicting selfie posting behaviors on social networking sites. Telematics and Informatics, 34, 560–571. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tele.2016.11.006
Kircaburun, K. (2016). Effects of Gender and Personality Differences on Twitter Addiction among Turkish Undergraduates. Journal of Education and Practice, 7, 33-42.
Kircaburun, K., Alhabash, S., Tosuntaş, Ş. B. & Griffiths, M. D. (2018b). Uses and Gratifications of Problematic Social Media Use Among University Students: A Simultaneous Examination of the Big Five of Personality Traits, Social Media Platforms, and Social Media Use Motives. International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction, 18, 525–547. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11469-018-9940-6
Kircaburun, K., Jonason, P. K. & Griffiths, M. D. (2018a). The Dark Tetrad traits and problematic social media use: The mediating role of cyberbullying and cyberstalking. Personality and Individual Differences, 135, 264-269. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2018.07.034
Li, J.B., Mo, P. K. H., Lau, J. T. F., Su, X.-F., Zhang, X., Wu, A. M. S., Mai, J.-C. & Chen, Y.-X. (2018). Online social networking addiction and depression: The results from a large-scale prospective cohort study in Chinese adolescents. Journal of Behavioral Addictions, 7, 686–696. https://doi.org/10.1556/2006.7.2018.69
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, 620–629. https://doi.org/10.1556/2006.6.2017.071
Longobardi, C., Settanni, M., Fabris, M. A. & Marengo, D. (2020). Follow or be followed: Exploring the links between Instagram popularity, social media addiction, cyber victimization, and subjective happiness in Italian adolescents. Children and Youth Services Review, 113, 104955. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2020.104955
López-Fernández, F. J., Mezquita, L., Griffiths, M. D., Ortet, G. & Ibáñez, M. I. (2020). The role of personality on disordered gaming and game genre preferences in adolescence: Gender differences and person-environment transactions. Adicciones, 33, 263-272. https://doi.org/10.20882/adicciones.1370
López-Fernández, F. J., Mezquita, L., Griffiths, M. D., Ortet, G. & Ibáñez, M. I. (2022). The development and validation of the Videogaming Motives Questionnaire (VMQ). Plos One, 17, e0280007. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0280007
Luo, T., Qin, L., Cheng, L., Wang, S., Zhu, Z., Xu, J., Chen, H., Liu, Q., Hu, M., Tong, J., Hao, W., Wei, B. & Liao, Y. (2021). Determination the cut-off point for the Bergen social media addiction (BSMAS): Diagnostic contribution of the six criteria of the components model of addiction for social media disorder. Journal of Behavioral Addictions, 10, 281-290. https://doi.org/10.1556/2006.2021.00025
Mammadov, S. (2021). Big Five personality traits and academic performance: A meta‐analysis. Journal of Personality, 90, 222–255. https://doi.org/10.1111/jopy.12663
Marengo, D., Angelo Fabris, M., Longobardi, C. & Settanni, M. (2022). Smartphone and social media use contributed to individual tendencies towards social media addiction in Italian adolescents during the COVID-19 pandemic. Addictive Behaviors, 126, 107204. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.addbeh.2021.107204
Marino, C., Gini, G., Vieno, A. & Spada, M. M. (2018). The associations between problematic Facebook use, psychological distress and well-being among adolescents and young adults: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Journal of Affective Disorders, 226, 274–281. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2017.10.007
Marsh, H. W., Hau, K. T. & Wen, Z. (2004). In search of golden rules: Comment on hypothesis-testing approaches to setting cutoff values for fit indexes and dangers in overgeneralizing Hu and Bentler’s (1999) findings. Structural Equation Modeling, 11, 320-341. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15328007sem1103
Martínez-Ferrer, B., Moreno, D. & Musitu, G. (2018). Are adolescents engaged in the problematic use of social networking sites more involved in peer aggression and victimization?. Frontiers in Psychology, 9, 801. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.00801
Meynadier, J., Malouff, J. M., Schutte, N. S. & Loi, N. M. (2024). Meta-analysis of associations between five-factor personality traits and problematic social media use. Current Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-024-06052-y
Monacis, L., De Palo, V., 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, 178-186. https://doi.org/10.1556/2006.6.2017.023
Muthén, L.K. & Muthén B.O. (2018). Mplus user’s guide. Eighth Edition. Muthen & Muthen.
Ortet, G., Escrivá, P., Ibáñez, M. I., Moya, J., Villa, H., Mezquita, L. & Ruipérez, M. A. (2010). Versión corta de la adaptación española para adolescentes del NEO-PI-R (JS NEO-S). International Journal of Clinical and Health Psychology, 10, 327-344.
Ortet-Walker, J., Mezquita, L., Vidal-Arenas, V., Ortet, G. & Ibáñez, M. I. (2020). Validation of an abridged, 60-item form, of the Junior Spanish NEO inventory (JS NEO-A60). Current Psychology, 41, 6620–6630. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-020-01135-y
Orth, U., Meier, L. L., Bühler, J. L., Dapp, L. C., Krauss, S., Messerli, D. & Robins, R. W. (2024). Effect size guidelines for cross-lagged effects. Psychological Methods, 29, 421–433. https://doi.org/10.1037/met0000499
Ortuño-Sierra, J., Pérez-Sáenz, J., Mason, O., Pérez de Albeniz, A. & Fonseca Pedrero, E. (2024). Problematic Internet Use among adolescents: Spanish validation of the Compulsive Internet Use Scale (CIUS). Adicciones, 36, 247–256. https://doi.org/10.20882/adicciones.1801
Putnick, D. L. & Bornstein, M. H. (2016). Measurement invariance conventions and reporting: The state of the art and future directions for psychological research. Developmental Review, 41, 71–90. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dr.2016.06.004
Raudsepp, L. & Kais, K. (2019). Longitudinal associations between problematic social media use and depressive symptoms in adolescent girls. Preventive Medicine Reports, 15, 100925. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pmedr.2019.100925
Robitzsch, A. & Lüdtke, O. (2023). Why Full, Partial, or Approximate Measurement Invariance Are Not a Prerequisite for Meaningful and Valid Group Comparisons. Structural Equation Modeling: A Multidisciplinary Journal, 30, 859–870. https://doi.org/10.1080/10705511.2023.2191292
Sánchez-Iglesias, I., Bernaldo-de-Quirós, M., Labrador, F. J., Estupiñá Puig, F. J., Labrador, M. & Fernández-Arias, I. (2020). Spanish Validation and Scoring of the Internet Gaming Disorder Scale - Short-Form (IGDS9-SF). The Spanish Journal of Psychology, 23. https://doi.org/10.1017/sjp.2020.26
Sánchez-Sánchez, F., Fernández-Pinto, I., Santamaría, P., Carrasco, M. A. & del Barrio, V. (2016). SENA, Sistema de Evaluación de Niños y Adolescentes: Proceso de desarrollo y evidencias de fiabilidad y validez. Revista de Psicología Clínica con Niños y Adolescentes, 3, 23-34.
Schwaba, T., Luhmann, M., Denissen, J. J. A., Chung, J. M. & Bleidorn, W. (2018). Openness to experience and culture-openness transactions across the lifespan. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 115, 118–136. https://doi.org/10.1037/pspp0000150
Sharpe, L. (2002). A reformulated cognitive–behavioral model of problem gambling: A biopsychosocial perspective. Clinical Psychology Review, 22, 1-25. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0272-7358(00)00087-8
Shek, D. T. L., Zhu, X. & Ma, C. M. S. (2018). The Influence of Parental Control and Parent-Child Relational Qualities on Adolescent Internet Addiction: A 3-Year Longitudinal Study in Hong Kong. Frontiers in Psychology, 9, 642. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.00642
Sireci, S. & Benítez, I. (2023). Evidence for Test Validation: A Guide for Practitioners. Psicothema, 35, 217–226. https://doi.org/10.7334/psicothema2022.477
Steenkamp, J. E. M. & Baumgartner, H. (1998). Assessing Measurement Invariance in Cross‐National Consumer Research. Journal of Consumer Research, 25, 78–107. https://doi.org/10.1086/209528
Su, W., Han, X., Yu, H., Wu, Y. & Potenza, M. N. (2020). Do men become addicted to internet gaming and women to social media? A meta-analysis examining gender-related differences in specific internet addiction. Computers in Human Behavior, 113, 106480. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2020.106480
Tang, W. Y., Reer, F. & Quandt, T. (2022). The interplay of the Dark Triad and social media use motives to social media disorder. Personality and Individual Differences, 187, 111402. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2021.111402
Tsitsika, A., Critselis, E., Louizou, A., Janikian, M., Freskou, A., Marangou, E., Kormas, G. & Kafetzis, D. A. (2011). Determinants of Internet addiction among adolescents: A case-control study. The Scientific World Journal, 11, 866-874. https://doi.org/10.1100/tsw.2011.85
van den Eijnden, R., Koning, I., Doornwaard, S., van Gurp, F. & ter Bogt, T. (2018). The impact of heavy and disordered use of games and social media on adolescents’ psychological, social, and school functioning. Journal of Behavioral Addictions, 7, 697–706. https://doi.org/10.1556/2006.7.2018.65
Vandenberg, R. J. & Lance, C. E. (2000). A Review and Synthesis of the Measurement Invariance Literature: Suggestions, Practices, and Recommendations for Organizational Research. Organizational Research Methods, 3, 4–70. https://doi.org/10.1177/109442810031002
Weston, R. & Gore, P. A. (2006). A Brief Guide to Structural Equation Modeling. The Counseling Psychologist, 34, 719–751. https://doi.org/10.1177/0011000006286345
Williams, A. L., Craske, M. G., Mineka, S. & Zinbarg, R. E. (2021). Neuroticism and the longitudinal trajectories of anxiety and depressive symptoms in older adolescents. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 130, 126–140. https://doi.org/10.1037/abn0000638
