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Facebook addiction disorder (FAD) among German students—A longitudinal approach

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Brailovskaia, Julia, Margraf, Jürgen·2017·PLOS ONE
DOI 10.1371/journal.pone.0189719PMC PMC5730190
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Abstract

The present study aimed to investigate Facebook Addiction Disorder (FAD) in a German student sample over a period of one year. While mean FAD level did not increase during the investigation period, a significant increase was shown in the number of participants reaching the critical cutoff score. FAD was significantly positively related to the personality trait narcissism and to negative mental health variables (depression, anxiety, and stress symptoms). Furthermore, FAD fully mediated the significant positive relationship between narcissism and stress symptoms, which demonstrates that narcissistic people can be specifically at risk to develop FAD. Present results give a first overview of FAD in Germany. Practical applications for future studies and limitations of present results are discussed.

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Authors
Brailovskaia, J., & Margraf, J.
Affiliations
Ruhr University Bochum (DE)
Corresponding author
Brailovskaia, Julia
ORCID
Venue
PLOS ONE
Publisher
Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Published
2017-12-14
Volume
12
Issue
12
Pages
e0189719
ISSN
1932-6203 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1371/journal.pone.0189719
PMC
PMC5730190
OpenAlex
W2771380641
Cited by
157
References
24
Citations by year
2026: 5 · 2025: 7 · 2024: 18 · 2023: 19 · 2022: 23 · 2021: 24 · 2020: 27 · 2019: 23 · 2018: 11
FWCI
42.73
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • PLoS ONE (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
Funders
  • Alexander von Humboldt-Stiftung
  • Open Access Publication Funds of the Ruhr-Universität Bochum
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Impact of Technology on Adolescents
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Sexuality, Behavior, and Technology
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Gambling Behavior and Treatments
Keywords
social media addiction, narcissism, depression, anxiety, stress symptoms, university students, longitudinal change, mediation, German students
MeSH terms
Adolescent, Adult, Female, Germany, Health Status, Humans, Male, Mental Health, Middle Aged, Personality, Students, Universities, Behavior, Addictive, Young Adult, Social Media

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