(PS8-66) Emotion Dysregulation and ADHD as Predictors of Problematic Social Media Use in Emerging Adults

Abstract Text: Social media use is prevalent among adolescents and young adults. While there are benefits to social connections facilitated by social media use, some individuals excessively use social media, leading to negative mental health-related outcomes (Sadagheyani & Tatari 2020). Problematic social media use (PSMU) is defined as excessive social media use which interferes with functioning (e.g., social, academic; Ali Homaid, 2022; Marino et al., 2020; Wu et al., 2024). Preventing PSMU is critical (APA, 2023); identifying correlates and risk factors of PSMU is important for intervention (Li et al., 2024). To date, emotion dysregulation and Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) symptoms have been found to be associated with social media use (Dekkers & van Hoorn, 2022; El Archi et al., 2022); however, these relations have not been examined extensively in young adults. The purpose of this study is to examine whether emotion dysregulation and ADHD symptoms are associated with PMSU among young adults.
In an ongoing data collection (current N = 442, Mage = 18.78, SD = 1.40), participants were recruited from a university participant pool. Over one-third of participants identified as Black or African American (N = 153, 34.6%); 34.2% identified as White (N = 151), and 11.5% identified as Asian (N = 51). More than one in four (26.9%; N = 119) of participants identified as Hispanic or Latino. Participants primarily identified as women (N = 265, 60.0%). Five participants identified as transgender (1.1%). Regarding sexual orientation identification, 21.5% (N = 95) of the sample identified as lesbian, gay, bisexual, asexual, or questioning. The survey was administered online via Qualtrics, and utilized the Social Media Disorder Scale (to assess PSMU; van den Eijnden et al., 2016), the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS; Kaufman et al., 2016), and the 6-question screener portion of the Adult ADHD Self-Report Scale (ASRS-v1.1; Kessler et al., 2005). Linear regression was used to examine associations, with gender controlled in the first step.
In the first analysis, after controlling for gender (F(2, 426) = 41.39, p < .001), difficulties in emotion regulation were significantly associated with PSMU (β = .39, p < .001). In the second regression, a similar result was found (F(2, 424) = 19.70, p < .001): ADHD symptoms significantly correlated with greater problematic social media use (β = .28, p < .001).
Though preliminary, these results suggest the importance of examining excessive social media use among youth receiving treatment for ADHD or who experience emotion dysregulation. Psychoeducation around healthy and balanced social media use may be especially important for youth who experience difficulties in emotion or behavior regulation.