JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

Users often describe mobile dating apps as addictive, and researchers have attempted to formalize compulsive dating app use as a behavioral addiction. However, the concept of online dating addiction remains debated. Researchers use different definitions and have various ideas about the psychological and interpersonal effects problematic media use may have.

Objective:

This systematic literature review synthesized research on problematic online dating behaviors with a specific focus on (1) definitions and measurement of problematic dating app use, (2) the examined adverse correlates, and (3) the employed study designs.

Methods:

We searched 16 databases (e.g., PsychInfo, PubMed, Web of Science, ScienceDirect). Twenty-nine papers published between 2009 and 2024 met inclusion criteria. These 29 papers covered 32 studies investigating problematic dating app use, participants aged 13- 80 years and sample sizes ranging from 64 to 4057.

Results:

Researchers conceptualized problematic online dating (in descending order of frequency) as use for certain motives, problematic use in the sense of behavioral addiction, specific activities or experiences, compulsive use, a disbalance between offline and online interactions, mere use or frequency, and excessive use. As adverse correlates of problematic dating app use, scholars examined mood and emotional issues, anxiety, personality traits, undesired behaviors, self-attitudes, media use, interpersonal correlates, partner choice, and sex-related correlates. Methodologically, some scales included harm in their measure of problematic dating app use. Of 32 studies, only three were randomized experiments, the rest were questionnaire studies. All studies measured dating app variables only at a single time point (cross-sectional) and tested between-person effects.

Conclusions:

Many questionnaire scales on problematic media use conflate predictor and outcome measurement by including harmful consequences in their measurement of problematic media use. Future literature reviews that test correlations with problematic online dating should only include studies using scales that validly separate media use from undesired outcomes. Overall, research on internet dating addiction specifically, and internet addiction in general, needs theoretically grounded definitions as well as experimental and longitudinal studies modelling within-person effects. Clinical Trial: PROSPERO [601803]