No abstract

Problematic social media use (PSMU) among adolescents has become an area of increasing research interest in recent years. It is known that PSMU is negatively associated with social connectedness. The present study examined the role of family life satisfaction in this relationship by investigating its mediating and moderating role in the relationship between problematic social use and social connectedness. The present study comprised 549 adolescents (296 girls and 253 boys) who had used social media for at least 1 year and had at least one social media account. The measures used included the Social Media Disorder Scale, Social Connectedness Scale, and Family Life Satisfaction Scale. Mediation and moderation analyses were performed using Hayes’s Process program. Regression analysis showed that PSMU negatively predicted family life satisfaction and social connectedness. In addition, family life satisfaction and PSMU predicted social connectedness. Mediation analysis showed that family life satisfaction had a significant mediation effect in the relationship between PSMU and social connectedness. Family life satisfaction was partially mediated in the relationship between PSMU and social connectedness. Moderation analysis showed that family life satisfaction did not have a significant effect on the relationship between PSMU and social connectedness. The study suggests that family life satisfaction is a meaningful mediator (but not a moderator) in the relationship between problematic social media use and social connectedness.

This study aims to develop a valid and reliable measurement tool to determine trolling in online environments. Two different study groups were used in the study. The study group for the exploratory factor analysis consisted of 493 university students (72.2% female; 27.8% male). The study group for confirmatory factor analysis consisted of 690 university students (71.7% female; 28.3% male). As a result of the exploratory factor analysis, it was seen that it consisted of 16 items and 3 sub-dimensions that explained 56.80% of the variance. The model obtained after the exploratory factor analysis was tested with confirmatory factor analysis and it was determined that the fit index values were within acceptable limits. The criterion validity of the scale was carried out with the Revised Cyberbullying Scale for University Students. Whereas the Cronbach alpha value for the entire scale was .89 for all of the scales, the same was found for sub-dimensions as .85, .73, and .66. As a result, it can be stated that the scale is a valid and reliable measurement tool.

Phubbing among undergraduate has become an area of increasing research interest in recent years. In recent years, studies on phubbing have increased. However, no empirical study has deal with the mediating effect of fear of missing out (FoMO) on the relationship between dark triad and phubbing. The dark triad refers to three personality traits: Machiavellianism, psychopathy, and narcissism. Machiavellianism is characterized by prioritizing one’s own wishes and desires. Psychopathy, is a personality trait where lack of emotion and self-control is seen. Narcissism is characterized by low empathy and egocentrism. Thus, the purpose of this study was to examine whether FoMO mediator between dark triad and phubbing among undergraduates. For this purpose, structural equation modeling and bootstrapping method was used. Mediation analyses were performed using AMOS 22.00. The present study comprised 506 undergraduate (%70.7 female; %29.3 male). The age of the participants ranged between 18 and 29 (x = 22.41).The measures used included the General Scale of Phubbing, Fear of Missing Out Scale, and Dirty Dozen Scale. The results showed that FoMO mediated the relationship between dark triad and phubbing. The results of bootstrapping procedure indicated that the indirect effect of FoMO on the relationship between dark triad and phubbing was significant. In conclusion, the study suggests that FoMO is a meaningful mediator in the relationship between dark triad and phubbing. Research results are discussed in the light of the related literature and suggestions are presented for future researchers.

Objective: The COVID-19 pandemic has had a negative impact on individuals both psychologically and socially. The current research shows that problematic technology use and mental health problems increased during the pandemic period. Method: In this study, studies examining the relationship between problematic technology use and mental health problems in the COVID-19 pandemic were examined and a meta-analysis was conducted. The present meta-analysis focused on the problematic technology use (i.e., internet addiction, smartphone addiction, social media addiction, and game addiction) and mental health problems in the COVID-19 pandemic. Searches were conducted for relevant studies using the ProQuest, PubMed, Science Direct, Scopus, Web of Science, ERIC, and TR Dizin databases. A total of 56 studies met the inclusion criteria. A total of 53,047 participants were reached in these studies. Results: Rosenthal’s classic fail-safe N analysis reveals that the meta-analysis result is statistically significant (p=.000). Moreover, the fact that the Begg and Mazumdar rank correlation is not significant indicates the absence of publication bias (p=0.28). In addition, no missing studies were found in Duval and Tweedie’s trim and fill analysis. The results demonstrated that problematic technology use was moderately positively correlated with mental health problems (r=0.33, n=53.047). In addition, the Q statistic (1833.059) examined to control heterogeneity shows that all variables are heterogeneous. The results of the I2 statistic (93.4%) show that a high level of heterogeneity has been achieved. Discussion: This finding shows that problematic technology use was associated with various mental health problems during the pandemic period.

The prevalence of social appearance anxiety among adolescents has increased in recent years. It can be said that one of the reasons for this situation is appearance-oriented social media applications. Attachment styles in adolescents may play a role in social appearance anxiety, as in many types of anxiety. However, adolescents’ positive youth development levels may have a protective role against social appearance anxiety. Therefore, this study investigated the serial mediator roles of Instagram addiction and positive youth development in the relationship between anxious-avoidant attachment style and social appearance anxiety in adolescents. The research was carried out with 508 high school students. As a result of the research, it was determined that anxious-avoidant attachment and Instagram addiction predicted social appearance anxiety positively. It was determined that positive youth development predicted social appearance anxiety negatively. In addition, mediating roles in the relationship between positive youth development and Instagram addiction, anxious-avoidant attachment and social appearance anxiety were found significant in the study.

In the current study, the scales of Cyber-Obsessional Pursuit (COPS) and Cyber Dating Abuse (CDAS) were adapted to Turkish culture. The data of this study were obtained from a total of 749 participants. The study group of COPS consists of 405 university students (244 women and 161 men), and the study group of CDAS consists of 344 university students (204 women and 140 men). The data of the study were collected using the COPS, CDAS and the Personal Information Form. The construct validity of COPS and CDAS was tested by Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) and Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA). The reliability of the instruments was examined according to Cronbach's alpha. According to EFA results of the CDAS, it is seen that the Perpetration scale of the CDAS consists of 11 items and two sub-dimensions; it was seen that the Victimization Scale of the CDAS consists of a single dimension with 11 items. According to EFA, which was repeated over 7 common items of Perpetration and Victimization Scales, it was determined that the Turkish form of the CDAS had a single factor structure consisting of 7 items. As a result of CFA for the 7-item CDAS, it was determined that both Perpetration and victimization models have acceptable fit index values. According to the reliability analysis, the Cronbach's α internal consistency reliability coefficient of COPS was 0.79 for the whole scale. The Cronbach's α internal consistency reliability coefficient of the CDAS was determined as 0.78 for the Perpetration Scale and 0.87 for the Victimization Scale. When the analyzes of the validity and reliability of the COPS and CDAS are evaluated as a whole, it can be said that these scales are valid and reliable instruments that measures cyber violence.

<p style="text-align: justify;">Online trolling is online behavior in which the troll provokes, harms, and pretends to be someone else to achieve their goals. The purpose of trolls may be to harm the other person, but they can also be for entertainment purposes. Online trolling, for whatever purpose, can have significant psychological effects on individuals and people who are socially exposed. In addition, online trolling is becoming more common every day. However, there are very few studies on trolling. Therefore, the study aims to examine the mediating role of empathy in the relationship between dark triad personality traits and levels of online trolling. For this purpose, structural equation modeling and bootstrapping method was used. The participants comprised 516 (%71.6 females; %28.4 males) undergraduates. The ages of the participants ranged from 18 to 31 (X̄ = 21.09). The measures used included the Online Trolling Scale, Dirty Dozen Scale, and Toronto Empathy Questionnaire. In the study, it was found that there were significant relationships between the dark triad, online trolling, and empathy. Also, the results of the structural equation model showed that the effect of the dark triad on online trolling was mediated by empathy. This result was found to be significant with bootstrapping.</p>