THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN EMOTION REGULATION DIFFICULTIES AND SOCIAL NETWORKING SITES ADDICTION

Abstract

ABSTRACT
 One of the internet facilities that help run social activities is social networking sites. The use of social networking sites is stable on an annual basis at a duration of 3.5 hours/day and is said to bring positive emotions to the users. However, excessive use that tends to lead to the formation of social networking sites addiction can be associated with difficulty in regulating emotions. Previous study had suggested a relationship between social networking sites addiction and emotion regulation difficulties in the context of Chinese social networks. To examine this hypothesis in another location of Jakarta, this study used a non-experimental quantitative method with a self-report questionnaire, namely the adapted version of Social Networking Addiction Scale (SNAS) and Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS). Participants in this study were determined by the cross-sectional approach, involving 391 students (18-24 years) domiciled in Jakarta or who are enrolled in any university in Jakarta. Data was analyzed using Spearman correlation, and the result shows that there is a significant positive relationship between emotion regulation difficulties and social networking sites addiction {r (389) = 0.330, p < 0.01}.