Social media misuse explained by emotion dysregulation and self-concept: an ecological momentary assessment approach
Abstract
Studies suggested that emotion dysregulation and identity processes are involved in social media (SM) misuse, even if their proximal role has not been investigated. Previous studies rarely discriminated between specific activities or between types of SM. We recruited 50 young adults and implemented a momentary ecological assessment measurement. Four times by day, during seven days, we measured SM use, frequency of several activities on SM, emotion dysregulation, distress and clarity of self-concept. Daily time spent on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok were retrieved from devices. Intradaily changes in emotion dysregulation and clarity of self-concept predict changes in SM addiction symptoms and frequency of use according to the type of activity. Daily changes in time spent on SM were not predicted by emotion dysregulation, distress and self-concept clarity. Findings suggest that emotion dysregulation and poor self-concept clarity are proximal risk factors for SM misuse.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
Instagram addiction behaviors are particularly prevalent among adolescents and young adults.
“These behaviors are particularly prevalent among adolescents and young adults, who are still navigating their identity and social relationships (Albery et al. 2025;Rogier et al. 2024).”
From The Scrolling Paradox: Analyzing Instagram Addiction Patterns in The Digital Age (2025) · cites this paper as Rogier et al. 2024
Instagram's feedback mechanisms can foster narcissistic tendencies, which are associated with increased emotional instability and greater susceptibility to mood disorders.
“The platform's feedback mechanisms can foster narcissistic tendencies, which are associated with increased emotional instability and greater susceptibility to mood disorders (Rogier et al. 2024).”
From The Scrolling Paradox: Analyzing Instagram Addiction Patterns in The Digital Age (2025) · cites this paper as Rogier et al. 2024
Cites
Advanced Bayesian Multilevel Modeling with the R Package brms
Bürkner, P.-C. (2018) · The R Journal · doi:10.32614/rj-2018-017 · Cited by 3,015 · see citing works
Kardefelt-Winther, D. (2014) · Computers in Human Behavior · doi:10.1016/j.chb.2013.10.059 · Cited by 2,519 · see citing works
Andreassen, C. S., Billieux, J., Griffiths, M. D., Kuss, D. J., Demetrovics, Z., Mazzoni, E., & Pallesen, S. (2016) · Psychology of Addictive Behaviors · doi:10.1037/adb0000160 · Cited by 2,095 · cited 1× · see citing works
“State levels of social media addiction symptoms were measured with an adapted version of the Bergen Social Media Addiction Scale (Andreassen et al., 2016; Monacis et al., 2017).”
Self-concept clarity: Measurement, personality correlates and cultural boundaries
Campbell, J. D., Trapnell, P. D., Heine, S. J., Katz, I. M., Lavallee, L. F., & Lehman, D. R. (1996) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037/0022-3514.70.1.141 · Cited by 2,088 · see citing works
Woods, H. C., & Scott, H. (2016) · Journal of Adolescence · doi:10.1016/j.adolescence.2016.05.008 · Cited by 1,302 · see citing works
Do social network sites enhance or undermine subjective well-being? A critical review
Verduyn, P., Ybarra, O., Résibois, M., Jonides, J., & Kross, E. (2017) · Social Issues and Policy Review · doi:10.1111/sipr.12033 · Cited by 1,209 · see citing works
Social network site addiction - An overview
Andreassen, C., & Pallesen, S. (2014) · Current Pharmaceutical Design · doi:10.2174/13816128113199990616 · Cited by 840 · cited 1× · see citing works
“…not pathological per se , empirical studies evidenced that excessive screen and social media exposure led to several physiological and psychological negative consequences such as alteration of circadian rhythms and mood changes (Andreassen & Pallesen, 2014; Viner et al., 2019; Woods & Scott, 2016).”
Social comparison on social networking sites
Verduyn, P., Gugushvili, N., Massar, K., Täht, K., & Kross, E. (2020) · Current Opinion in Psychology · doi:10.1016/j.copsyc.2020.04.002 · Cited by 500 · cited 1× · see citing works
“Then, social media greatly stimulates the comparison with others’ process (Verduyn et al., 2020) and has been identified as a key mechanism underlying identity development (Stets & Burke, 2014).”
Monacis, L., de Palo, V., Griffiths, M. D., & Sinatra, M. (2017) · Journal of Behavioral Addictions · doi:10.1556/2006.6.2017.023 · Cited by 446 · see citing works
Hormes, J. M., Kearns, B., & Timko, C. A. (2014) · Addiction · doi:10.1111/add.12713 · Cited by 398 · see citing works
Coyne, S. M., Padilla-Walker, L. M., & Howard, E. (2013) · Emerging Adulthood · doi:10.1177/2167696813479782 · Cited by 314 · see citing works
Giromini, L., Velotti, P., de Campora, G., Bonalume, L., & Cesare Zavattini, G. (2012) · Journal of Clinical Psychology · doi:10.1002/jclp.21876 · Cited by 301 · see citing works
Viner, R. M., Gireesh, A., Stiglic, N., Hudson, L. D., Goddings, A.-L., Ward, J. L., & Nicholls, D. E. (2019) · The Lancet Child & Adolescent Health · doi:10.1016/s2352-4642(19)30186-5 · Cited by 295 · see citing works
Butzer, B., & Kuiper, N. A. (2006) · Personality and Individual Differences · doi:10.1016/j.paid.2005.12.017 · Cited by 263 · see citing works
Lavender, J. M., Tull, M. T., DiLillo, D., Messman-Moore, T., & Gratz, K. L. (2017) · Assessment · doi:10.1177/1073191115601218 · Cited by 164 · see citing works
Pontes, H. M., Taylor, M., & Stavropoulos, V. (2018) · Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking · doi:10.1089/cyber.2017.0609 · Cited by 163 · see citing works
Hussain, Z., & Griffiths, M. D. (2021) · International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction · doi:10.1007/s11469-019-00175-1 · Cited by 142 · see citing works
Schivinski, B., Brzozowska-Woś, M., Stansbury, E., Satel, J., Montag, C., & Pontes, H. M. (2020) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2020.617140 · Cited by 103 · see citing works
Salari, N., Zarei, H., Hosseinian-Far, A., Rasoulpoor, S., Shohaimi, S., & Mohammadi, M. (2025) · Journal of Public Health · doi:10.1007/s10389-023-02012-1 · Cited by 91 · cited 1× · see citing works
“Nonetheless, because previous studies showed that social media misuse is a growing concern among Italian university students (Salari et al., 2023), the findings brought by our study appear to be valuable.”
Fortunato, L., Lo Coco, G., Teti, A., Bonfanti, R. C., & Salerno, L. (2023) · International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health · doi:10.3390/ijerph20156439 · Cited by 20 · see citing works
Imperato, C., Mancini, T., & Musetti, A. (2023) · International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction · doi:10.1007/s11469-022-00800-6 · Cited by 16 · see citing works
Flagged first, then by citations
Cited by
Sorted by citations
The Scrolling Paradox: Analyzing Instagram Addiction Patterns in The Digital Age
Balcıoğlu, Y. S., Bayraktar, Ü., & Güven, E. (2025) · İmgelem · doi:10.53791/imgelem.1685011 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
- Authors
- Rogier, G., Muzi, S., & Pace, C. S.
- Affiliations
- University of Genoa (IT)
- Corresponding author
- Rogier, Guyonne
- Venue
- Cognition and Emotion
- Publisher
- Informa UK Limited
- Published
- 2024-06-11
- Volume
- 38
- Issue
- 8
- Pages
- 1261-1270
- ISSN
- 0269-9931 (ISSN-L)
- 1464-0600
- OpenAlex
- W4399594235
- Cited by
- 12
- References
- 21
- Citations by year
- 2026: 5 · 2025: 6 · 2024: 1
- FWCI
- 8.61
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Cognition & Emotion (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- CINECA IRIS Institutial Research Information System (University of Genoa) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Impact of Technology on Adolescents
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Mental Health via Writing
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Mental Health Research Topics
- Keywords
- social media misuse, emotional dysregulation, self-concept clarity, social media addiction, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, distress, young adults, proximal risk factors, ecological momentary assessment
- MeSH terms
- Ecological Momentary Assessment, Emotional Regulation, Internet Addiction Disorder, Adolescent, Adult, Emotions, Female, Humans, Male, Self Concept, Young Adult, Social Media
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
