Attachment Anxiety and Problematic Social Media Use: The Mediating Role of Well-Being

Worsley, Joanne D, Mansfield, Rosie and Corcoran, Rhiannon ORCID: 0000-0001-8900-9199 (2018) Attachment Anxiety and Problematic Social Media Use: The Mediating Role of Well-Being CYBERPSYCHOLOGY BEHAVIOR AND SOCIAL NETWORKING, 21 (9). pp. 563-568. ISSN 2152-2715, 2152-2723

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Abstract

Insecure attachment is associated with a myriad of maladaptive outcomes, including low well-being and problematic Internet use. The lack of research investigating the roles that interpersonal attachment styles and psychological well-being play in problematic social media use is surprising. To address this gap, 915 young people aged 18-25 years (M = 20.19, SD = 1.58) completed an online survey measuring attachment styles, psychological well-being, and problematic social media use. We found that both greater attachment anxiety and less avoidance in attachment relationships were associated with problematic use of social media. The data further indicated that there was a significant indirect effect of attachment anxiety on problematic social media use through general feelings of psychological well-being, suggesting that individuals characterized by anxious attachment styles may be using social media as a means of enhancing psychological well-being. As psychological well-being was found to be negatively associated with problematic social media use, our findings bolster calls for enhancing young people's well-being. However, causality cannot be fully established due to the cross-sectional design of this study.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	attachment anxiety, attachment avoidance, psychological well-being, problematic social media use
Depositing User:	Symplectic Admin
Date Deposited:	19 Jun 2019 08:12
Last Modified:	22 Jan 2026 01:27
DOI:	10.1089/cyber.2017.0555
Related Websites:	Author Publisher
URI:	https://livrepository.liverpool.ac.uk/id/eprint/3046423
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