Cyberpsychology: Journal of Psychosocial Research on Cyberspace

The development and validation of the extended active-passive social media use scale

Xiang Niu — 2025-06-30

Mixed findings regarding the relationship between social media (SM) use and mental health have left the research field at somewhat of a crossroads, with one significant requirement being a comprehensive tool to measure SM use. In an effort to advance relevant research, this study extends the common ‘active-passive model’ of SM use to develop and validate a comprehensive scale. This scale will measure complex SM behaviors, focusing on subtypes of active and passive use. A 29-item Extended Active-Passive Use Scale (E-APUS) developed for adolescents and young adults was validated using a total sample of individuals (N = 4,372) from four independent Chinese samples. An exploratory factor analysis with N₁ = 305 and a confirmatory factor analysis with N₂ = 289 revealed six dimensions characterizing engagement on SM. These dimensions include targeted-warm use, non-targeted-warm use, cold use, browsing high self-relevance success stories, browsing low self-relevance success stories, and browsing failure stories. The study confirmed measurement invariance (N₃ = 3,524) across genders and educational stage groups (i.e., adolescents vs. young adults) through (multi-group) confirmatory factor analyses. Convergent validity of the E-APUS scale was established with active-passive SM use measures, and criterion validity was supported using indicators of subjective well-being. However, discriminant validity was comparatively lower for personality factors. The E-APUS scale exhibited good internal consistency and high test-retest reliability (N₄ = 254) over a 2-week period. Summarily, the E-APUS emerges as an effective, valid, and reliable tool for measuring SM use.

Where you lead, I will follow: Developing a new measure for studying parasocial involvement with influencers

Johanna L. Degen — 2025-07-31

Parasocial involvement with influencers (PII) on social media has rapidly increased in recent years. Currently, little is known about the impact of this development, as psychometrically evaluated measurement instruments capturing nuances of PII are lacking. Building on theory and qualitative findings, we developed the 39-item Parasocial Influencer Involvement Scale (PIInS), which shows good internal consistency. It comprises seven subscales empirically substantiated by factor analysis and captures different dimensions of parasocial influencer involvement, such as gratification, self-soothing, identification and loyalty, comparison, self-expansion, social influence, and emotional bonding. A first validation study in a convenience sample of n = 484 individuals participating in an online survey provided preliminary evidence for construct validity. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) in a second study with n = 443 participants largely confirmed the structure of the scale found in Study 1. The PIInS was negatively associated with attachment security, relational identity centrality, and self-expansion. Also, parasocial involvement with influencers was positively linked with social identity centrality and empathy in parasocial processing. A multiple regression analysis revealed that attachment anxiety, empathy during parasocial interactions, social identity centrality, and the absence of relational identity centrality had the strongest predictive value for parasocial influencer involvement. These findings point toward potential psychological mechanisms and related risks of parasocial involvement with influencers and emphasize the need for prevention and further research.

The anxiety spiral: Reciprocal reinforcement between uncertainty intolerance and social comparison on social networking sites

Qing Yang — 2025-06-30

The widespread adoption of social networking sites (SNSs) has facilitated easy access to others’ shared content and life presentations, catalyzing upward social comparison. When faced with uncertainty, individuals tend to engage in upward social comparison as a self-evaluation tool, deriving ways for self-improvement and personal growth that may contribute to regained psychological stability. However, excessive indulgence in such comparisons may backfire, exacerbating intolerance of uncertainty (IU). Despite a theoretical link between IU and upward social comparison on SNS, no research has combined the two so far. Thoroughly exploring this issue holds significant practical importance, especially during emerging adulthood, because this period is characterized by an intricate transition from adolescence to full adulthood, marked by a variety of challenges and uncertainties. Therefore, we conducted a ten-month longitudinal study among emerging adults in China, with a mean age of 19.24 years (N = 460), to examine predictive relationships between IU and upward social comparison on SNS. We found such reciprocal associations using a three-wave cross-lagged panel model. Specifically, IU has a positive longitudinal predictive effect on the intensity of upward social comparisons on SNS. In contrast, upward social comparisons on SNS in the prior wave positively predicted IU in the subsequent wave, establishing a vicious cycle. Our findings may provide valuable insights for young social media users, helping them to cope more effectively with uncertainty and the pressures of social comparison, ultimately contributing to their emotional well-being.

Longitudinal bidirectional relations between parental phubbing and adolescents’ life satisfaction: The roles of problematic social network use and personality

Xiaoyan Zhou — 2025-06-30

Parental phubbing, as a new negative factor for adolescents’ healthy and positive development, has been noticed by scholars. The current study explored the longitudinal association between parental phubbing and adolescents’ life satisfaction across three years, taking into account adolescents’ problematic social network use as a potential mediator and Big Five personality traits as moderators of the associations. This study involved 2,407 Chinese adolescents (M_age = 12.75, SD = 0.58 at baseline, range = 11–16) by questionnaire. The involved students were recruited from 48 classrooms across 7 different schools. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was used to fit our cross‐lagged panel model across three waves of data. The results showed that the relation between parental phubbing and adolescents’ life satisfaction is negative and bidirectional. Problematic social network use mediated the relation between parental phubbing and adolescents’ life satisfaction. Agreeableness moderated the relations among parental phubbing, problematic social network use, and adolescents’ life satisfaction. Specifically, the negative bidirectional relations between parental phubbing and adolescents’ life satisfaction were more robust for adolescents with low agreeableness than those with high agreeableness. Compared to adolescents with low agreeableness, adolescents who with high agreeableness experienced high parental phubbing at previous time points were more likely to have problematic social network use at subsequent time points. The present study indicates that perceived high parental phubbing can be both a precursor to and an outcome of adolescents’ low life satisfaction, serving to maintain a vicious cycle that compounds negative effects on student mental health. Further, results demonstrate how problematic social network use and personality can affect this cycle.

Problematic TikTok use severity, self-control, and school engagement: A one-year longitudinal study

Qingqi Liu — 2025-06-30

As short-form video applications such as TikTok have gained popularity, the phenomenon of problematic short-form video usage has emerged as a significant area of research. However, the impact of problematic TikTok use severity on young people’s school engagement, as well as the underlying mechanisms of this impact, has yet to be rigorously explored through empirical studies. The present study employed a one-year longitudinal design (with data collection occurring at three time points, spaced six months apart) at two universities located in South China. A total of 590 university students, aged 17 to 24 years, completed scales designed to assess the severity of problematic TikTok usage, usage patterns, self-control, and school engagement and to collect demographic information. Correlational analysis revealed a positive correlation between self-control at time point 2 (T2) and school engagement at time point 3 (T3), whereas both variables exhibited negative correlations with problematic TikTok use severity at time point 1 (T1). Furthermore, regression analysis demonstrated that, after controlling for age, TikTok use time, and school engagement at T1, self-control at T2 played a mediating role in the association between problematic TikTok use severity at T1 and school engagement at T3. Additionally, both gender and TikTok use patterns played a significant moderating role in the mediating effect of self-control. The indirect effect of self-control was observed to be substantial only among male university students. In addition, this indirect effect was more pronounced among university students who passively use TikTok than among those who actively use TikTok. These findings enhance our understanding of both the direct and indirect effects of the severity of problematic TikTok use and the potential moderating factors influencing the relationship between problematic TikTok use severity and school engagement. Additionally, our research offers valuable practical insights into the responsible use of short-form video applications such as TikTok and suggests strategies for effectively mitigating the negative impacts of problematic TikTok usage on school engagement.

(Dis)Connected: Finding the link between problematic use of internet, parent-child communication and academic performance in emerging adults

Alda Portugal — 2025-06-30

Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) play a central role in the lives of emerging adults, offering both opportunities and challenges. While ICT facilitates communication and access to information, its problematic use has raised concerns about its impact on family relationships and academic performance during this developmental stage. This cross-sectional study aims to describe the use of ICT in academic context and analyse differences between groups considering the problematic use of the internet, the perception of academic performance and parent-child communication in a sample of college students (N = 201, aged between 18 to 29). In addition to instruments for sociodemographic characterisation and of ICT use, Generalized Problematic Internet Use Scale-2 and Perception Scale of Parenting Communication-Emerging Adults were used. The results suggest that young people with problematic use of internet for non-academic purposes tend to report poorer communication with their parents, particularly their fathers. Additionally, half of the sample exhibited moderate problematic use of the internet. These results are relevant for professionals working with young adults, such as college professors, as well as for young adults themselves and their parents. Professors may benefit from implementing structured guidelines for ICT use in the classroom to promote academic engagement while minimizing distractions. For young adults, the findings emphasize the importance of developing self-regulation strategies to balance digital life, enhance academic performance, and maintain healthy relationships. Parents are encouraged to foster open communication and support positive family dynamics to mitigate the negative effects of problematic internet use.

Comparative network analysis of nomophobia and mental health symptoms among college and middle school students

Shixiu Ren — 2025-06-30

With the rapid advancement of technology, the number of smartphone users has increased dramatically, resulting in a rising prevalence of nomophobia. Previous research has indicated that nomophobia is particularly common among adolescents and young adults and has significant negative impacts on their mental health, including increased anxiety, stress, and depression. However, most existing studies have concentrated on single age group, lacking comparative analysis between adolescents and young adults despite their distinct developmental stages and associated psychological challenges. To address this gap, the present study recruited 693 middle school adolescents and 900 college students to compare the network structures of nomophobia and mental health symptoms between these two groups. Network analysis revealed several similarities across both groups, such as the consistently positive associations between the fear of being unable to access information and symptoms of anxiety, stress, and depression. However, significant differences were also identified. A network comparison test initially revealed five significant edge differences, two of which involved anxiety. To further examine these differences, the anxiety subscale was subdivided according to DSM-5 symptomatology. Subsequent network comparison tests identified seven edges that differed significantly between middle school and college students, including two edges specifically involving the relationship between nomophobia (particularly the fear of losing contact) and various anxiety symptoms. These findings enhance the understanding of the distinct network structures linking nomophobia with mental health symptoms in adolescents and young adults, offering valuable insights for designing age-specific interventions aimed at reducing its detrimental effects on mental health.

To respond or not to respond: The effects of interpersonal goals on responsive Facebook behaviours

Danielle Villoresi — 2025-06-30

Past research indicates that compassionate interpersonal goals are associated with greater responsiveness to others. However, whether this extends to casual friends on social networking sites (SNSs) is unclear. The current research examined the effects of interpersonal goals on the likelihood of responding with one-click reactions, comments, and private messages to mock Facebook posts by casual friends. We also examined responding differences depending on post valence. A 3 (response: one-click reaction, comment, private message) x 2 (self-image goal: low, high) x 2 (compassionate goal: low, high) x 2 (post valence: positive, negative) x 2 (post domain: work, social) mixed-model experimental design tested our predictions among Facebook users (N = 389). Results revealed that either self-image or compassionate interpersonal goals at low levels of the opposing goal increased one-click reactions and comments. Additionally, post valence and domain influenced responding. Compassionate goals increased one-click reactions and comments when responding to positive posts and private messages when responding to negative posts. All response modes were more likely for the negative than positive social post, and one-click reactions and comments were more likely for the positive than negative work post. Our findings provide causal evidence that self-image and compassionate goals can increase responding to casual friends on Facebook. Moreover, whether people respond to Facebook posts can be influenced by SNS contextual factors such as the valence of a post and the varied ways to respond.

Big Five personality dimensions and disintegration as antecedents of vertical and horizontal internet privacy concerns

Jošt Bartol — 2025-06-30

Given the role that internet privacy concerns (IPCs) have in individuals’ online behaviors, it is essential to understand how personality shapes people’s concerns about privacy online. The five-factor model of human personality—with the Big Five personality dimensions of openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism—has been widely used to study the formation of internet users’ privacy concerns. However, existing literature has investigated only vertical (institutional) IPCs, while there is no corresponding research on horizontal (peer) IPCs. The role of a recently proposed personality trait, disintegration, which captures individuals’ proneness to perceive connections among unrelated phenomena and thus complements existing personality models, has also not been examined yet. This preregistered study addressed these gaps by investigating the associations of the Big Five personality dimensions and the disintegration trait with vertical and horizontal IPCs among internet users. The hypotheses and research questions were addressed through path analysis on a sample of internet users (N = 797) aged 18 years or older, recruited through probability-based sampling (response rate 42%). The results showed that agreeableness was associated with greater vertical IPCs, whereas openness with lower and disintegration with higher horizontal IPCs. The association between disintegration and vertical IPCs was moderated by previous privacy violations. The findings suggest that personality traits have different associations with vertical and horizontal IPCs, warranting further investigation of the role of the disintegration trait in individuals’ online privacy perceptions and behaviors.

Player-avatar bonds and gaming benefits and risks: Assessing self-discrepancy theory against a broader range of character and play experiences

Jeffrey G. Snodgrass — 2025-06-30

How players relate to their avatars in digital and analog gaming predicts both positive and negative gaming experiences. For example, a perceived discrepancy between one’s actual and avatar self is associated with both gaming benefits and risks. However, such self-discrepancy approaches treat avatars narrowly as self-substitutes that allow players to project idealized identities in a virtual environment. Yet, those approaches have not examined how other kinds of player-avatar bonds—such as avatars experienced as distinct other persons or as impersonal objects used to accomplish gaming goals—might differentially predict gaming benefits and risk of harm. Nor has self-discrepancy research explored how avatar experiences might function in forms of play with positive and negative aspects, e.g., in situations where challenge, suffering, and repeated failure are preconditions for eventual feelings of accomplishment. In the current study, we use ethnographically informed survey responses from North American gamers (N = 149) to examine how a range of player-avatar relationships shape diverse gaming experiences. We find that relating to avatars as self-substitutes, including in situations where players’ experience discrepancies between their actual and avatar selves, does predict gaming benefits and risks, but so do other kinds of player-avatar bonds. Our research thus confirms the importance of self-discrepancy theory in assessments of gaming experience but nonetheless suggests the need for caution if claiming distinctive benefits or risks associated with particular kinds of player-avatar bonds.