Contributions of Psychopathological and Interpersonal Variables to Problematic Facebook Use in Adolescents and Young Adults

Abstract

Background: Problematic Facebook use, also known as Facebook addiction, has recently been recognized as a cause of potential harm to adolescents and young adults. Some problematic Internet use risk factors have been linked to Facebook use. Yet few studies have explored the risk factors for problematic Facebook use in young people. Objectives: The aim of this study was to evaluate the contribution of psychopathological variables, in particular borderline traits and interpersonal variables (i.e., parent and peer attachments and parental bonding styles), to the explanation of problematic Facebook use symptoms by taking gender into account and controlling for motives, one of the most important risk factors for problematic Facebook use. Patients and Methods: The final sample consisted of 456 Facebook users (227 women) aged from 12 to 25 (M = 20.5; SD = 2.5). These participants completed online self-report questionnaires assessing problematic Facebook use, motives for Facebook use, depressive symptoms, social anxiety, sensation seeking, borderline personality traits, parental bonding and attachment, and peer attachment. Results: Multiple regression analyses showed that motives and maternal overprotection were the main predictors of problematic Facebook use symptoms in both genders. Mediation analyses suggested that borderline personality traits and overprotection played different roles in the development of problematic Facebook use symptoms. In females, borderline traits were a mediator in the relation between maternal overprotection and problematic Facebook use symptoms. In males, maternal overprotection was a mediator in the relation between borderline traits and problematic Facebook use symptoms. To our knowledge, this is the first study exploring the contribution of parental bonding and borderline traits to problematic Facebook use.