The relationship between loneliness, depression, internet and social media addiction among young polish women
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: When speaking of behavioral addictions (especially to the Internet and social media), it is emphasized that it is not the environment that is the main contributor to addiction, but rather certain behaviors and personality traits. The aim of this study was to assess the level of Internet and social media addiction on the example of Facebook with regard to psychological and social factors. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: This survey-based study involved a group of women representing the female population in the West Pomeranian Voivodeship, Poland (N = 556). Research instruments were a self-developed questionnaire concerning sociodemographic data, the De Jong Gierveld Loneliness Scale, the Beck Depression Inventory, the Internet Addiction Test, and the Bergen Facebook Addiction Scale. RESULTS: Age, depressive symptoms, loneliness were the variable contributing to Internet and Facebook addiction among the studied. Available studies confirm the results of their own research. CONCLUSIONS: Depressive symptoms and dependence on the Internet and Facebook were more common among single women. In the employed women, we only observed higher levels of Internet and Facebook addiction. The level of dependence on the Internet and Facebook was higher among younger women. Loneliness correlated with Internet and Facebook addiction, and more severe depressive symptoms entailed higher levels of Internet and Facebook addiction.
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Loneliness alone is correlated to internet addiction.
“while loneliness alone is correlated to internet addiction, and severe symptoms of depression (11).”
Loneliness alone is correlated to severe symptoms of depression.
“while loneliness alone is correlated to internet addiction, and severe symptoms of depression (11).”
Loneliness is correlated with internet addiction.
“Loneliness is correlated with internet addiction, and severe depressive symptoms were found among young Polish women (11).”
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“Loneliness is correlated with internet addiction, and severe depressive symptoms were found among young Polish women (11).”
BackgroundZhu, X., & Xiong, Z. (2022) · Frontiers in Psychiatry · doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2022.896762 · Cited by 42 · see citing works
“Social Media Use Social media use is ascertained with the following items: (1) Social media platforms; (2) Purposes of using social media; (3) Category of information online you prefer; (4) Purposes of updating social feed; (5) Number of social media accounts; (6) People who interact most frequently on social media; (…”
BackgroundAli, A. M., Hendawy, A. O., Almarwani, A. M., Alzahrani, N. S., Ibrahim, N., Alkhamees, A. A., & Kunugi, H. (2021) · International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health · doi:10.3390/ijerph182312341 · Cited by 43 · see citing works
“The use of the internet for socialization and gaming has dramatically increased among children, adolescents, and young adults during the last two decades as a result of the expansion of internet technology [1,2].”
BackgroundAli, A. M., Hori, H., Kim, Y., & Kunugi, H. (2021) · Frontiers in Psychiatry · doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2021.735109 · Cited by 33 · see citing works
“Likewise, young Polish single women and women with higher scores on the De Jong Gierveld Loneliness Scale are reported to display the highest level of depressive symptoms and dependence on the internet and Facebook than older and married women (17).”
BackgroundStangl, F. J., Riedl, R., Kiemeswenger, R., & Montag, C. (2023) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1141663 · Cited by 33 · see citing works
“Low to high positive effects on perceived depression have been found among individuals who are addicted to Facebook (Koc and Gulyagci, 2013; Hong et al., 2014; Zaffar et al., 2015; Brailovskaia and Margraf, 2017; Khattak et al., 2017; da Veiga et al., 2019; Damota, 2019; Foroughi et al., 2019; Kulkarni and Deshpande,…”
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“In support of these theories, people who are lonely, single [23], high on social anxiety [24], not in love relation, failing love relation [25], or lacking social support [26] express more internet and Facebook dependence than counterparts who are less lonely, married, in love relations or have adequate social support.”
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“Moreover, a study with a sample of young polish women found that individuals with higher levels of depression and loneliness tended to develop PIU (Rachubinska et al., 2021).”
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“However, this finding contradicted findings from earlier studies conducted in Kuwait and Poland [33, 54], which found that education had no statistically significant impact on loneliness”
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“It may lead to impaired health, increased anxiety, depression, and lower subjective well-being (Lin et al., 2016; Rachubińska et al., 2021).”
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“also revealed that severe depressive symptoms and a feeling of loneliness were related to a higher level of Internet addiction among adult women [19].”
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“Adults who were bullied as juveniles and experience high levels of loneliness in adulthood may be more vulnerable to social media addiction (Vazsonyi et al., 2016; Rachubińska et al., 2021).”
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“Internet addiction (IA), also known as problematic Internet use or pathological Internet use, is an uncon-trollable, compulsive, and excessive use of the Internet by individuals (Rachubinska et al., 2021; Young, Pistner, O’mara, & Buchanan, 1999).”
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“Rachubinska et al also found that individuals with high levels of loneliness were more likely to suffer from PIU.(38) Loneliness triggering PIU may be consistent with both models: the cognitive-behavioral model states that loneliness, as a psychological factor, is a distal requisite for PIU, which triggers PIU by deve…”
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“In line with the theoretical propositions, empirical studies have shown a significant positive relationship between depressive symptoms and IA (Ali et al., 2021; Rachubińska et al., 2021; Zhao et al., 2022).”
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“57 Similarly, loneliness has been shown to partially mediate social media addiction in adolescents.”
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Relationship between social media addiction and bodyweight
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“The use of the internet for socialization and gaming has dramatically increased among children, adolescents, and younger adults during the last two decades as a result of the expansion of internet technology [1,2].”
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- Authors
- Rachubińska
- Venue
- PubMed
- Publisher
- National Institutes of Health
- Published
- 2021-02-01
- Volume
- 25
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 1982-1989
- OpenAlex
- W3134300987
- Cited by
- 41
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 4 · 2024: 9 · 2023: 13 · 2022: 8 · 2021: 6
- FWCI
- 12.46
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Impact of Technology on Adolescents
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Sexuality, Behavior, and Technology
- Social Sciences › Demography › Cyberloafing and Workplace Behavior
- Keywords
- loneliness, depression, internet addiction, social media addiction, Facebook addiction, young women, behavioral addiction, single women, employment status, age differences, personality traits
- MeSH terms
- Internet Addiction Disorder, Adult, Depression, Female, Humans, Loneliness, Poland, Psychiatric Status Rating Scales, Surveys and Questionnaires, Social Media
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