Disordered social media use and risky drinking in young adults: Differential associations with addiction‐linked traits

Abstract

Background: Excessive or compulsive use of social media has been likened to an addiction, similar to other behavioural addictions such as pathological gambling or Internet addiction. This investigation sought to determine the degree to which personality traits associated with such disordered social media use overlap with those known to predict problematic substance use, with use of the most commonly abused legal substance alcohol as an example of the latter. Method: Well-known indices of disordered social media use, risky or problematic alcohol use, and the personality traits alexithymia, reward sensitivity, narcissism, and impulsivity were administered online to 143 men and women aged 18-35 years who were regular users of social media. The traits examined had previously been linked to substance misuse for a variety of substances, including alcohol, as presumed predisposing factors. Results: After controlling for age, gender, and social desirability in hierarchical regressions, disordered social media use was predicted by narcissism, reward sensitivity, and impulsivity, whereas risky alcohol use was predicted by narcissism, alexithymia, and impulsivity. The ability of narcissism to predict disordered social media use was mediated by reward sensitivity, which was not the case for risky drinking. Conclusions: Present results point to similarities and differences in addictionlinked traits when comparing disordered social media use to risky or problematic substance use.

Empirical Relationships between Problematic Alcohol Use and a Problematic Use of Video Games, Social Media and the Internet and Their Associations to Mental Health in Adolescence

“…This result of the present investigation indicates a positive relationship between problematic alcohol use and problematic gaming in adolescence, but naturally requires verification in further empirical surveys. Concerning the relation between problematic alcohol use and problematic social media use, only one study in adults [ 32 ] is available. Lyvers et al [ 32 ] reported a positive correlation between both problematic behavioral patterns, which we observed in the present study also for adolescents.…”

“…Concerning the relation between problematic alcohol use and problematic social media use, only one study in adults [ 32 ] is available. Lyvers et al [ 32 ] reported a positive correlation between both problematic behavioral patterns, which we observed in the present study also for adolescents. Again, this finding needs to be verified in future studies.…”

“…Problematic gaming was a protective factor against problematic alcohol use in this investigation. For relations between problematic alcohol use and problematic social media use only one result (also in adults) has been published so far [ 32 ]. Lyvers et al [ 32 ] obtained a statistically significant positive correlation (0.42) between problematic alcohol use and problematic social media use in Australian adults (mean age: 26.1 years).…”

Addiction and the Dark Triad of Personality

“…Drinking is related to grandiose narcissism and self-esteem contingency (such as need for approval) (23). Grandiose narcissism predicts drinking behavior independently of impulsivity, which indicates that other mechanisms might be relevant (24). This becomes even more apparent when grandiosity is accompanied by vulnerability, for which increased feelings of shame explain the association with problematic alcohol use (21).…”

“…Beyond substance-related behavior, grandiose narcissism is linked to addictive social media use (24, 39–41), compulsive smartphone use (42), compulsive buying (43), pathological gambling (44), or compulsive working (45). Studies comparing grandiose narcissism to the other Dark Triad traits, however, do not always find effects for narcissism, but also point to the role of psychopathic or Machiavellian traits instead (46–49).…”