Facebook Intrusion as a Mediator Between Positive Capital and General Distress: A Cross-Cultural Study

Aneta Przepiórka; Agata Błachnio; Mark Sullman; Oleg Gorbaniuk; Nicolson Yat-Fan Siu; Tetiana Hill; Maria-Eugenia Gras; Antonios Kagialis; Yanina Lisun; Maité Díaz-Peñaloza; Denisse Manrique-Millones; Militsa Nikiforou; Galina S Evtina; Joanne E Taylor; Burcu Tekes; Laura Šeibokaite; Lisa Wundersitz; Fran Calvo; Sílvia Font-Mayolas

doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2021.667536

Facebook Intrusion as a Mediator Between Positive Capital and General Distress: A Cross-Cultural Study

Front Psychiatry. 2021 Jun 17:12:667536. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2021.667536. eCollection 2021.

Authors

Aneta Przepiórka¹, Agata Błachnio¹, Mark Sullman², Oleg Gorbaniuk^{1

3}, Nicolson Yat-Fan Siu⁴, Tetiana Hill⁵, Maria-Eugenia Gras⁶, Antonios Kagialis², Yanina Lisun⁷, Maité Díaz-Peñaloza⁸, Denisse Manrique-Millones⁹, Militsa Nikiforou¹⁰, Galina S Evtina¹¹, Joanne E Taylor¹², Burcu Tekes¹³, Laura Šeibokaite¹⁴, Lisa Wundersitz¹⁵, Fran Calvo¹⁶, Sílvia Font-Mayolas⁶

Affiliations

¹ Institute of Psychology, The John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin, Lublin, Poland.
² School of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Nicosia, Nicosia, Cyprus.
³ Faculty of Psychology, University of Economics and Human Sciences in Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland.
⁴ Department of Counselling and Psychology, Hong Kong Shue Yan University, Hong Kong, China.
⁵ Hertfordshire Business School, University of Hertfordshire, Hatfield, United Kingdom.
⁶ Department of Psychology, Quality of Life Research Institute, Universitat de Girona, Girona, Spain.
⁷ Department of Journalism and Advertising, Kyiv National University of Trade and Economics, Kyiv, Ukraine.
⁸ Instituto de Investigación de Psicología - Universidad de San Martín de Porres, Lima, Peru.
⁹ Grupo de Investigación en Comunicación y Salud, Instituto de Investigación Científica, Universidad de Lima, Lima, Peru.
¹⁰ School of Sciences, University of Central Lancashire, Larnaca, Cyprus.
¹¹ Industrial University of Tyumen, Tyumen, Russia.
¹² School of Psychology, Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand.
¹³ Department of Psychology, Başkent University, Ankara, Turkey.
¹⁴ Department of Psychology, Vytautas Magnus University, Kaunas, Lithuania.
¹⁵ Centre for Automotive Safety Research, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA, Australia.
¹⁶ Department of Pedagogy, Quality of Life Research Institute, Universitat de Girona, Girona, Spain.

Abstract

Background: Social networking sites (SNSs) play an important role in many aspects of life nowadays, and it seems to be crucial to explore their impact on human well-being and functioning. The main aim of the study was to examine the mediating role of Facebook intrusion between positive capital and general distress. Positive capital was considered as comprising self-esteem, ego-resiliency, and self-control, while general distress was seen as having three dimensions: depression, anxiety, and stress. Methods: The sample consisted of N = 4,495 participants (M = 22.96 years, SD = 5.46) from 14 countries: Australia, Cyprus, Greece, Hong Kong, Lithuania, New Zealand, Peru, Poland, Russia, Spain, Turkey, Ukraine, United Kingdom, and United States. We used the following methods: the Facebook Intrusion Questionnaire (FIQ), the Self-Esteem Scale (SES), the Brief Self-Control Scale (SCS), The Ego Resiliency Revised Scale and the Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale-21 (DASS-21). Results: We found that Facebook intrusion was a mediator between self-esteem and general distress and between self-control and general distress. Limitations: The present study was based on a cross-sectional study, and the measures used were self-report measures. The majority of the participants were recruited using convenience sampling. Conclusions: The present findings contribute to a better understanding on how the social media have impact on individual mental health. Implications for future studies are discussed.

Keywords: Facebook intrusion; cross-country study; ego resiliency; general distress; positive capital; self-control; self-esteem.

Copyright © 2021 Przepiórka, Błachnio, Sullman, Gorbaniuk, Siu, Hill, Gras, Kagialis, Lisun, Díaz-Peñaloza, Manrique-Millones, Nikiforou, Evtina, Taylor, Tekes, Šeibokaite, Wundersitz, Calvo and Font-Mayolas.