Loneliness and problematic social media use : testing the moderating role of passive use of social media

Abstract

Social media usage has increased rapidly, and problematic social media use (PSMU) has become a growing concern. Current literature suggests that many psychological problems are associated with PSMU, including loneliness. The current study investigated the relationship between loneliness and PSMU among young adults in Hong Kong and whether the association was moderated by passive social media use. 720 young adults (mean age = 23.9 years, SD = 4.47) from Hong Kong completed online anonymous surveys regarding loneliness, PSMU, and passive social media use. Results showed that loneliness was positively correlated with PSMU and passive social media use. Loneliness explained 6% of the variance in problematic social media use PSMU and passive social media were negatively correlated. The moderation analysis showed that passive social media use was not a significant moderator between loneliness and PSMU. A mediation analysis was conducted as an exploratory analysis, and the bootstrapped indirect effect (1000 resampling) of loneliness on PSMU through passive social media use was significant. Interestingly, the result showed that passive social media played a significant mediating effect in the relationship between loneliness and PSMU among young adults in Hong Kong. The current study presented original findings that contribute to the understanding of the underlying mechanism between loneliness and PSMU in Hong Kong, as well as the important role of the pattern of social media use. The findings also provided theoretical and practical implications.