Meeting ex-partners on Facebook: users' anxiety and severity of depression
Abstract
The purpose of the present study was to explore participants' subsequent emotions and behaviour when they re-encountered their ex-partners on Facebook. A survey of 202 Facebook users aged 16–65 years was conducted using a 79-question online survey to examine users' emotion and behaviour (state anxiety, trait anxiety, and severity of depression) when their ex-partners reappeared on social networking sites (SNS), they received an invitation from an ex-partner to be friends on SNS, and when they saw pictures of ex-partners with current girlfriends or boyfriends. The results indicated that for people who accepted former partners' invitation to be Facebook friends, trait anxiety was more pronounced than for those who did not. Moreover, people who accepted former partners' invitations to become Facebook friends were much more depressed than those who did not. In addition, it is found that gender generates significant differences in the severity of depression. It is worth noting that when people met former partners on Facebook, men were much more depressed than women. However, the way in which participants broke up with ex-partners did not significantly affect their state anxiety, trait anxiety, or the severity of depression. Finally, the participants' cognition of and importance placed on their former relationship resulted in significant differences in trait anxiety. The current study adds to the growing body of literature investigating relationships among SNS users, becoming friends with ex-partners on Facebook, emotions, and behaviour.
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Positive correlations were found between depression and Facebook addiction or pathological SNS use, and Facebook intrusion.
“positive correlations were found between depression and Facebook addiction or pathological SNS use, 23,42,43 and Facebook intrusion, 44”
From The Relationship Between Online Social Networking and Depression: A Systematic Review of Quantitative Studies (2016) · cites this paper as [43]
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- Authors
- Tsai, C.-W., Shen, P.-D., & Chiang, Y.-C.
- Affiliations
- Ming Chuan University (TW)
- Corresponding author
- Tsai, Chia-Wen
- ORCID
- Tsai, Chia-Wen
- Venue
- Behaviour & Information Technology
- Publisher
- Informa UK Limited
- Published
- 2014-12-06
- Volume
- 34
- Issue
- 7
- Pages
- 668-677
- ISSN
- 0144-929X (ISSN-L)
- 1362-3001
- OpenAlex
- W1968670099
- Cited by
- 14
- References
- 54
- Citations by year
- 2024: 1 · 2021: 3 · 2020: 3 · 2019: 4 · 2016: 3
- FWCI
- 3.26
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Behaviour and Information Technology (publishedVersion)
- RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Impact of Technology on Adolescents
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Attachment and Relationship Dynamics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Anxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive Processes
- Keywords
- ex-partners, Facebook, social networking sites, trait anxiety, state anxiety, depression severity, gender differences, breakup, relationship cognition
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