Smartphone and social media use contributed to individual tendencies towards social media addiction in Italian adolescents during the COVID-19 pandemic
Abstract
Introduction Adolescents in remote education during the COVID-19 pandemic had few opportunities to socialize in person, resulting in a significant rise in the use of social networks or instant messaging applications. However, excessive use may promote addictive tendencies towards these platforms, with negative consequences for adolescents' well-being.Aims In this study, we investigated the prevalence of smartphone and social media application use in early-to-late adolescents in remote education. We examined the relative impact of different social media applications on self-reported tendencies toward social media addiction.Methods The sample consisted of 765 Italian adolescents (Age: M = 14.11 ± 2.2; 401 females) who reported on use of the smartphone, social media applications, namely WhatsApp, Facebook, Twitter, TikTok, Instagram, Snapchat, Telegram, Messenger, and YouTube. Mean differences in social media addiction across group reporting different patterns of social media use were investigated. The contribution of each social media application in predicting social media addiction was determined using a random forest algorithm.Results On average, adolescents using just WhatsApp and YouTube reported the lowest social media addiction compared with peers also using Instagram or TikTok (or both of them). Overall, we found time spent on smartphone, and use of TikTok were the strongest predictors of social media addiction, followed by use of Facebook, Telegram, Messenger, and Twitter. Instagram, Snapchat, and WhatsApp use showed no effect when examined together with the other platforms.Conclusions Findings indicated that TikTok was the most addictive application during the COVID-19 pandemic, overshadowing other very popular applications with similar visual affordances.
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Among included studies, only four reported data about total daily screen time, and four detailed the amount of time spent on TikTok.
“Among the included studies, only four reported data about total daily screen time [67–70], and four detailed the amount the time spent on TikTok [42, 67, 71, 72].”
From Scrolling through adolescence: a systematic review of the impact of TikTok on adolescent mental health (2025) · cites this paper as [69]
Eleven studies used self-developed questionnaires for outcome evaluation, of which only six paired it with standardized measures.
“Eleven studies used self-developed questionnaires for outcome evaluation [42, 67–72, 74, 80–82], of which only six paired it with standardized measures [67–69, 71, 72, 80, 81].”
From Scrolling through adolescence: a systematic review of the impact of TikTok on adolescent mental health (2025) · cites this paper as [69]
Marengo et al. found that time spent on the smartphone and TikTok were the strongest predictors of risk of social media addiction.
“Marengo et al. [69] found that time spent on the smartphone and TikTok were the strongest predictors of risk of SM addiction.”
From Scrolling through adolescence: a systematic review of the impact of TikTok on adolescent mental health (2025) · cites this paper as [69]
The analyzed effects of TikTok use included risk of PTU.
“The analyzed effects encompassed lower life satisfaction [79], increased depressive symptoms [68], higher levels of anger and loneliness [72], risk of PTU [69, 83, 84], increased body image concerns, and self-esteem issues [42, 70, 80], as well as the rapid spreading of functional tic-like behaviors [76, 77].”
From Scrolling through adolescence: a systematic review of the impact of TikTok on adolescent mental health (2025) · cites this paper as [69]
Some included studies highlighted that time spent on TikTok correlates both with PTU as well as risk of mental distress and depressive symptoms in teens.
“Some of them highlighted that time spent on TikTok correlates both with PTU as well as risk of mental distress and depressive symptoms in teens [68, 69, 85].”
From Scrolling through adolescence: a systematic review of the impact of TikTok on adolescent mental health (2025) · cites this paper as [69]
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Bozzato, P., & Longobardi, C. (2024) · International Journal of School & Educational Psychology · doi:10.1080/21683603.2024.2328833 · Cited by 16 · see citing works
“Among 762 Italian adolescents in the 2020–2021 school year, Marengo et al. (2022) found that WhatsApp is the most-used social media platform (99.20%), followed by YouTube (88.50%), Instagram (75.42%), TikTok (61.96%), Snapchat (33.07%), Telegram (25.10%), Twitter (14.25%), Facebook (12.29%), and…”
BackgroundResultInfluentialSelf-citationGÖKBULUT, B., & Bilen, H. (2024) · Journal of Higher Education and Science · doi:10.5961/higheredusci.1326038 · Cited by 16 · see citing works
The Causes, Effects, and Interventions of Social Media Addiction
Ji, Y., Liu, S., Xu, H., & Zhang, B. (2023) · Journal of Education Humanities and Social Sciences · doi:10.54097/ehss.v8i.4378 · Cited by 13 · see citing works
Soraci, P., Pisanti, R., Servidio, R. C., Holte, A. J., Ferrari, A., Demetrovics, Z., & Griffiths, M. D. (2024) · International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction · doi:10.1007/s11469-024-01375-0 · Cited by 13 · see citing works
“…because it has exhibited good psychometric properties (i.e., reliability and validity [both convergent and discriminant]) in both the Italian (e.g., Marengo et al., 2022; Soraci et al., 2020) and international (e.g., Chen et al., 2020; Csibi et al., 2018) contexts in adequately assessing the…”
Ho, W. W. Y., Lau, Y. H. Y., Leung, L. Y. L., Li, E. K. L., & Reyna, K. K. (2024) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1448168 · Cited by 19 · see citing works
Oliveira, A. P., Nobre, J. R., Luís, H., Luís, L., de Pinho, L. G., Albacar-Riobóo, N., & Sequeira, C. (2022) · International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health · doi:10.3390/ijerph20010664 · Cited by 13 · see citing works
Adolescence, Interrupted: A narrative review of the impact of Covid-19 on adolescent wellbeing
Oakley, E. M., Vintges, J., Hamad, B. A. A., Mitu, K., Seager, J. E., Yadete, W., Jones, N., & Baird, S. (2024) · World Development · doi:10.1016/j.worlddev.2024.106786 · Cited by 12 · see citing works
A war on prejudice: The role of media salience in reducing ethnic prejudice
Bobba, B., Thijs, J. T., & Crocetti, E. (2023) · Journal of Adolescence · doi:10.1002/jad.12234 · Cited by 12 · see citing works
“First, Italian adolescents have been found to rarely resort to Twitter as their preferred social media platform (Marengo et al., 2022), which might mitigate the ability of this outlet to contribute to the information environment to which youth are exposed.”
Aggression Mediates Relationships between Social Media Addiction and Adolescents’ Wellbeing
Rustamov, E., Aliyeva, M., Rustamova, N., Nuriyeva, U. Z., & Nahmatova, U. (2023) · The Open Psychology Journal · doi:10.2174/0118743501251575230925074655 · Cited by 11 · see citing works
How social media are changing pediatricians and pediatrics? – A claim for regulation
Bella, S. L., Ludovico, A. D., Parri, N., Mauro, A. D., & Corsello, A. (2024) · The Italian Journal of Pediatrics/Italian journal of pediatrics · doi:10.1186/s13052-024-01822-7 · Cited by 11 · see citing works
Dodan, D., & Negru‐Subtirica, O. (2025) · Journal of Research on Adolescence · doi:10.1111/jora.70011 · Cited by 15 · see citing works
Unravelling the dynamics between smartphone use and psychological well-being: a two-wave panel study
Lin, Y., & Zhou, X. Y. (2025) · Behaviour and Information Technology · doi:10.1080/0144929x.2025.2455399 · Cited by 10 · see citing works
“…mobile applications, such as social media, on users’ mental wellness, including psychological dependence (Wang et al. 2015a), social media addiction (Marengo et al. 2022), anxiety (Van-nucci, Flannery, and Ohannessian 2017), depression (Woods and Scott 2016), and displeasure (Jeong et al. 2019).”
Balcı, Ş., Akgül, T. E., & Astam, F. K. (2024) · Erciyes İletişim Dergisi · doi:10.17680/erciyesiletisim.1442074 · Cited by 9 · see citing works
Ecological Thinking about the Metaverse from a Posthumanist Perspective
Liu, Y. (2023) · Critical Arts · doi:10.1080/02560046.2023.2276423 · Cited by 9 · see citing works
“A survey from Italy indicates that TikTok ranks as the most relevant contribution among the social media platforms (Marengo et al. 2022).”
Balcı, Ş., PINARBAŞI, T. E., & ASTAM, F. K. (2024) · Türkiye İletişim Araştırmaları Dergisi · doi:10.17829/turcom.1373818 · Cited by 10 · see citing works
Smartphone Addiction among Adolescents in Southern Italy and Correlation with Other Risky Behaviors
Cali, M. A. A., Fernández-López, L., Navarro‐Zaragoza, J., Caravaca-Sánchez, F., & Romero, M. F. (2024) · Actas Españolas de Psiquiatría · doi:10.62641/aep.v52i5.1664 · Cited by 9 · see citing works
Visualizing Age-Specific Digital Platform Usage in Germany
Bobzien, L., Verwiebe, R., & Kalleitner, F. (2025) · Socius Sociological Research for a Dynamic World · doi:10.1177/23780231251319360 · Cited by 9 · see citing works
“…research has argued that generational differences in exposure to technology during formative years may result in cohort-specific behavior patterns (Marengo et al. 2022; Vannucci et al. 2020) and that younger generations adapt to emerging platforms more fluidly (Klopfenstein Frei et al. 2024),…”
Otto, T. (2025) · Computers & Education · doi:10.1016/j.compedu.2025.105330 · Cited by 9 · see citing works
Akhtar, F., & Al-Ali, F. A. A. (2025) · Dirasat Human and Social Sciences · doi:10.35516/hum.2025.7921 · Cited by 8 · see citing works
Reuter, C., Kaufhold, M., Biselli, T., & Pleil, H. (2023) · International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction · doi:10.1016/j.ijdrr.2023.103880 · Cited by 8 · see citing works
Sexting, fear of missing out (FOMO), and problematic social network use among adolescents
Tomczyk, Ł., & Szotkowski, R. (2023) · Human Technology · doi:10.14254/1795-6889.2023.19-2.8 · Cited by 8 · see citing works
“…two risk behaviours associated with problematic Internet use are currently heavily debated in terms of diagnostic criteria (Atroszko et al., 2022; Marengo et al., 2022), while the third behaviour, sexting, is a phenomenon fraught with many stereotypes and overinterpretations (Ng et al., 2022;…”
BackgroundYang, H. Y., Yang, K., Zhang, L., Yang, N., Mei, Y.-X., Zheng, Y.-L., He, Y., Gong, Y., & Ding, W. (2023) · Frontiers in Psychiatry · doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2023.1106100 · Cited by 7 · see citing works
“The incidence of MPA has dramatically increased during the COVID-19 pandemic (5).”
BackgroundBobba, B., Miniati, A., & Crocetti, E. (2024) · Journal of Research on Adolescence · doi:10.1111/jora.13013 · Cited by 7 · see citing works
“The same effect, however, was not found for media salience on Twitter, possibly because this social media is not the preferred platform among Italian adolescents (Marengo et al., 2022).”
Peng, Q., Wan, X., Li-min, Z., & Wang, X. (2024) · Early Child Development and Care · doi:10.1080/03004430.2024.2426573 · Cited by 7 · see citing works
“Short videos have an interactive design that captures children’s attention and emphasizes immersive virtual experiences, which may further enable children to actively increase their time spent using the media (Marengo, Angelo Fabris, Longobardi, & Settanni, 2022).”
Al, A., Başpınar, M., & Basat, O. (2022) · Bagcilar Medical Bulletin · doi:10.4274/bmb.galenos.2022.2022-06-052 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
“In addition, increasing usage trend has emerged as increasing addictions such as social media addiction, internet addiction, and mobile phone addiction through different social media applications (9).”
Otto, T., & Thies, B. (2024) · Education and Information Technologies : Official Journal of the IFIP technical committee on Education · doi:10.1007/s10639-024-12762-4 · Cited by 11 · see citing works
“Several studies have shown that the use of Instagram is associated with more PSMU or PSU compared to the use of other social media raising concerns and increasing the need for research about Ins-tagram use (Limniou et al., 2022; Marengo et al., 2022; Rozgonjuk et al., 2018).”
Centofanti, S. A., Lushington, K., Wicking, A., Wicking, P., & Dorrian, J. (2024) · Adolescents · doi:10.3390/adolescents4030025 · Cited by 7 · see citing works
“In particular, adolescents who spend more time on their smartphone consuming social media are at a higher risk of social media addiction [55] which, in turn, is associated with greater nighttime social media use and worse sleep quality [46].”
BackgroundGezginci, E., & Eker, H. H. (2025) · International Journal of Environmental Health Research · doi:10.1080/09603123.2024.2448488 · Cited by 6 · see citing works
“…that TikTok is the most popular social media platform among adolescent and college students compared to other social media platforms such as Snapchat, Instagram, X (Twitter), YouTube, and Facebook, and is the strongest determinant of social media addiction (Marengo et al. 2022; Xie and Gallo 2024).”
Ma, Y., Zheng, Z.-A., Yao, Z.-Y., Xu, X., Zhou, X.-Y., Kou, C., Yao, B., Sun, W., Li, R., Xiao-jie, G., et al. (2025) · Journal of Affective Disorders · doi:10.1016/j.jad.2025.01.049 · Cited by 6 · see citing works
Terrell, A., Wickrama, T., Merten, M. J., & Becnel, J. N. (2022) · Current Psychology · doi:10.1007/s12144-022-03160-5 · Cited by 6 · see citing works
Malerba, A., Iannattone, S., Casano, G., Lauriola, M., & Bottesi, G. (2022) · Children · doi:10.3390/children9111631 · Cited by 7 · see citing works
“ones became prominent to many [5], learning modalities changed radically, and exposure to the family environment suddenly increased [6].”
BackgroundAdolescent Social Media Use and Depression: A Person-Centered Approach
Lin, S., & Longobardi, C. (2025) · Child Psychiatry & Human Development · doi:10.1007/s10578-025-01819-1 · Cited by 5 · see citing works
Self-citationKolas, J., & von Mühlenen, A. (2024) · International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction · doi:10.1007/s11469-024-01349-2 · Cited by 7 · see citing works
“Not surprisingly, time spent on SNS (and smartphones) predicts the risk of SNS addiction (Hong et al., 2014; Marengo et al., 2022), and that time is predicted by users’ positive affective forecast of SNS use (Baum & Baumann, 2021).”
Predictive Power of Leisure Boredom on Social Media Addiction in University Students
UGURLU, A. (2023) · Akdeniz Spor Bilimleri Dergisi · doi:10.38021/asbid.1265805 · Cited by 5 · see citing works
Miezah, D., Mahama, I., Moustafa, A. A., Nkrumah, I. K., Oti-Boadi, M., & Asante, K. O. (2024) · Elsevier eBooks · doi:10.1016/b978-0-443-13437-1.00013-6 · Cited by 4 · see citing works
Kim, S., Jin, J.-C., Yoo, S.-K., & Han, D. H. (2025) · JMIR Pediatrics and Parenting · doi:10.2196/66448 · Cited by 4 · see citing works
Analyzing nomophobia among TikTok users: a data mining and text analysis approach
Balcıoğlu, Y. S., & Artar, M. (2025) · Current Psychology · doi:10.1007/s12144-025-08416-4 · Cited by 4 · see citing works
“Addi - tionally, further research could explore the effectiveness of different intervention strategies in reducing nomophobic behaviors and perceived risks associated with smartphone use (Marengo et al., 2022 ).”
Native, addict, innovator: young teachers' digital competence in the post-COVID-19 instructional era
Jogezai, N. A., & Baloch, F. A. (2023) · International Journal of Educational Management · doi:10.1108/ijem-03-2023-0148 · Cited by 5 · see citing works
Feng, Y., Zhang, Y., & Li, L. (2023) · Library Hi Tech · doi:10.1108/lht-05-2023-0196 · Cited by 4 · see citing works
Mateo‐Orcajada, A., Vaquero‐Cristóbal, R., & Abenza‐Cano, L. (2024) · Human Behavior and Emerging Technologies · doi:10.1155/2024/4687827 · Cited by 5 · see citing works
“One possible explanation for these results is that one of the most determining aspects of problematic mobile phone use is the type of applications or content viewed on them [88].”
Orfi, K., Ahmadkaraji, S., Farahani, H., Watson, P., & Athar, M. E. (2023) · International Journal of Human-Computer Interaction · doi:10.1080/10447318.2023.2267919 · Cited by 4 · see citing works
“…through some movements such as the body positivity movement (Lazuka et al., 2023) and the extensions of health belief models (Azadi et al., 2021), The situation has even escalated and worsened with the advent of image-based social media platforms (IBSM) (Elhai et al., 2018; Marengo et al., 2022).”
Time is target for gen Z: increased time online during the pandemic and cyber victimization
Rosén, L., Rubin, L. J., Dali, S., Llanes, D. M., Lopez, A., Romines, A., & Saunders, S. A. (2024) · Young Consumers Insight and Ideas for Responsible Marketers · doi:10.1108/yc-07-2023-1787 · Cited by 4 · see citing works
Martino, G. D., Centorbi, M., Buonsenso, A., Fiorilli, G., Valle, C. D., Calcagno, G., Iuliano, E., & di Cagno, A. (2024) · International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health · doi:10.3390/ijerph21080975 · Cited by 4 · see citing works
“Coping strategies refer to a sequence of actions or cognitive processes employed when encountering a challenging or unpleasant situation, aimed at managing or altering one’s response to it [12].”
BackgroundOnat, M., Kılıç, D. E. S. M., Ünver, A. B. N., Özyurt, G., Dinç, G. Ş., & Çöp, E. (2025) · Pediatrics International · doi:10.1111/ped.70064 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
Social Media Addiction Among Nursing Students and Its Related Factors
Yeşi̇ltepe, A., Demirkıran, B. C., & Çam, S. D. (2023) · Makara Journal of Health Research · doi:10.7454/msk.v27i1.1417 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
“WhatsApp and mobile devices the most to follow social media.(35) Smartphone addiction in nursing/midwifery”
Michikyan, M., Subrahmanyam, K., Regan, P. C., Bessaha, M. L., Bartholomew, J. B., Cano, M. Á., Meca, A., & Schwartz, S. J. (2024) · Identity · doi:10.1080/15283488.2024.2379411 · Cited by 4 · see citing works
“It is noteworthy that frequent use of social media during an adverse collective life event may undermine psychosocial well-being (e.g., by exposing users to anxiety-inducing information) and potentiate social media addiction (Marengo et al., 2022; Zhao & Zhou, 2020).”
Lin, S., Longobardi, C., Fabris, M. A., & Settanni, M. (2024) · Journal of Social and Personal Relationships · doi:10.1177/02654075241298148 · Cited by 4 · see citing works
“…groups allow adolescents to maintain connections with peers beyond the physical con fi nes of the school or neighborhood and foster a sense of belonging and group identity that can be critical to their psychological well-being and development (Marengo et al., 2021, 2022; Subrahmanyam et al., 2008).”
Self-citationQureshi, K., Thore, P., & Rajan, S. (2022) · International Journal of Community Medicine and Public Health · doi:10.18203/2394-6040.ijcmph20221242 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
Öztürk, M. S., & Öztürk, M. Ü. (2023) · International Journal of Education in Mathematics Science and Technology · doi:10.46328/ijemst.3999 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
Social media and education: perspectives on digital inclusion in the university setting
Erazo-Moreno, M. M., Córdova, G. M. V., Sánchez, G. A. Á., Quispe-Anccasi, F. K., & Saavedra, S. S. P. (2024) · Data & Metadata · doi:10.56294/dm2024299 · Cited by 4 · see citing works
Zhang, H.-X. (2024) · Psychiatry Investigation · doi:10.30773/pi.2024.0112 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
“…and it is the overuse of social media via smartphones and the Internet that results in problematic smartphone use and Internet addiction, 53,54 it is not unreasonably to expect that the association between CO-VID-19-related PTSD symptoms and SMA among university students might also be the…”
BackgroundPredictive Capacity of Social Media Addiction on Academic Engagement in University Students
Roque Herrera, Y., Alonso-García, S., Tenelanda López, D. V., & López Núñez, J. A. (2025) · Education Sciences · doi:10.3390/educsci15121677 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
Social Media and Selfie-Related Mortality Amid COVID-19: Interrupted Time Series Analysis
Kang‐Auger, S., Lewin, A., Ayoub, A., Bilodeau‐Bertrand, M., Marcoux, S., & Auger, N. (2023) · JMIR Formative Research · doi:10.2196/42857 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
“Platforms like TikTok, known for spreading dangerous challenges, became very popular [18,19].”
BackgroundThe Influence of Likes and Sexist Attitudes on Adolescent Self-Esteem in Social Networks
Valdés, Y. F., Rojas, A. D. G., Gómez, Á. H., & Olvera, F. J. D. R. (2024) · International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health · doi:10.3390/ijerph21121647 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
- Authors
- Marengo, D., Angelo Fabris, M., Longobardi, C., & Settanni, M.
- Affiliations
- University of Turin (IT)
- Corresponding author
- Longobardi, Claudio
- Venue
- Addictive Behaviors
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2022-03
- Volume
- 126
- Pages
- 107204
- ISSN
- 0306-4603 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W3216036569
- Cited by
- 175
- References
- 38
- Citations by year
- 2026: 21 · 2025: 39 · 2024: 47 · 2023: 50 · 2022: 18
- FWCI
- 39.82
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Licence
- Locations
- Addictive Behaviors (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Institutional Research Information System University of Turin (University of Turin) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Impact of Technology on Adolescents
- Social Sciences › Education › Child Development and Digital Technology
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Sexuality, Behavior, and Technology
- Keywords
- social media addiction, adolescents, smartphone use, COVID-19 pandemic, distance education, TikTok, Instagram, WhatsApp, YouTube, instant messaging apps, social networking sites, visual affordances, youth welfare
- MeSH terms
- Smartphone, Internet Addiction Disorder, COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2, Adolescent, Female, Humans, Pandemics, Social Media
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