Subtypes of social media addiction in adolescents and their characteristics of emotional reinforcement and attentional bias
Year: 2026
Type: article
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: OBJECTIVES: To analyze the characteristics of emotional reinforcement and attentional bias across different subtypes of social media addiction in adolescents. METHODS: Using stratified cluster sampling, 2254 adolescents from four schools in Fujian Province were recruited, and 2028 valid samples were retained after screening. A self-designed Social Media Use Driving Situations Questionnaire was used to measure the types and intensity of emotion-driven motivations for social media use. The Bergen social media addiction scale (BSMAS) was used to assess the severity of social media addiction, and the positive and negative affect scale (PANAS) was used to measure trait affect. With the six BSMAS items as observed variables, latent profile analysis was performed in Mplus 8.3 to identify heterogeneous subtypes of social media addiction. One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) or Kruskal-Wallis H test, Pearson correlation analysis, and linear regression were used to compare social media use duration and trait affect across subtypes and to examine the association between the motivational intensity of emotion-driven situations and addiction severity. From each subtype, 20 participants were randomly selected by stratified sampling. A 3 (prime type: positive/neutral/negative)×2 (target word type: social media word/neutral control word)×3 (group: normal/at-risk/addicted) mixed design was used in an emotional Stroop color-word test. Visual analog scale (VAS) was used to measure social media use craving and behavioral impulsivity before and after the test. Repeated-measures ANOVA, Pearson correlation analysis, and Spearman rank correlation were used to analyze changes in social media use craving and impulsivity before and after the test and the correlations of reaction times with immediate post-task social media use craving and behavioral impulsivity. RESULTS: <0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Adolescent social media addiction can be classified into three heterogeneous subtypes, which differ in emotional reinforcement characteristics and exhibit corresponding attentional bias patterns.
Institution: Fujian Normal University
Language: Chinese
Subfield: Sociology and Political Science
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W7213515440