Accepted for/Published in: Journal of Medical Internet Research
Date Submitted: Jan 11, 2021
Date Accepted: Jul 5, 2021
Objective Recordings of Smartphone and Instant Messaging and Social Network App Usage are associated with Self-reported Tendencies towards Smartphone Use Disorder: The distinctive Role of Image-Based Apps
ABSTRACT
Background:
Online social communication via instant messaging (IM) and social networking (SN) applications make up for a large part of the time smartphone users spend on their devices. Previous research indicates that the excessive use of these applications positively associates with smartphone-related addictive behaviors. In particular, image-based SN apps, such as Instagram and Snapchat, have been shown to exert stronger detrimental effects than traditional apps, such as Facebook and Twitter.
Objective:
We investigate the correlation between individual tendency towards smartphone use disorder (SmUD) and objective measures of frequency of smartphone usage. Additionally, we explore a mediation pathway linking frequency of actual smartphone usage and self-reported tendencies towards SmUD by route of increased frequency of usage of IM and SN apps.
Methods:
We recruited a sample of N = 124 adult smartphone users (62.9% females; mean age of M=23.84 (SD = 8.29) years) and collected objective information about the frequency of smartphone and SN app usage over one week. Participants also filled in a self-report measure assessing multiple components of tendencies toward smartphone use disorder. Bivariate associations were investigated using Spearman correlations. A parallel mediation analysis was implemented via multiple regression analysis.
Results:
The frequency of smartphone usage, as well as the use of IM apps (Messenger, Telegram, WhatsApp), Facebook, and image-based apps (Instagram, Snapchat), had significant positive associations with at least one component of a smartphone use disorder, with the facet cyberspace-oriented relationships exhibiting the strongest associations. We find support for an indirect effect linking actual smartphone usage and smartphone use disorder tendencies via frequency of use of image-based SN apps.
Conclusions:
This novel result sheds light on the factors promoting smartphone use disorder and essentially indicates the features implemented in the considered image-based SN apps as being potentially more “addictive” than those available in IM apps and traditional SN apps, such as Facebook.
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