Effect of Social Media Addiction on Executive Functioning Among Young Adults: The Mediating Roles of Emotional Disturbance and Sleep Quality

Kuo Zhang; Peiyu Li; Ying Zhao; Mark D Griffiths; Jingxin Wang; Meng Xuan Zhang

doi:10.2147/PRBM.S414625

Effect of Social Media Addiction on Executive Functioning Among Young Adults: The Mediating Roles of Emotional Disturbance and Sleep Quality

Psychol Res Behav Manag. 2023 May 25:16:1911-1920. doi: 10.2147/PRBM.S414625. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Kuo Zhang¹, Peiyu Li¹, Ying Zhao², Mark D Griffiths³, Jingxin Wang⁴, Meng Xuan Zhang⁵

Affiliations

¹ Department of Social Psychology, Zhou Enlai School of Government, Nankai University, Tianjin, 300350, People's Republic of China.
² Mental Health Education Center, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou, Jiangsu, 225009, People's Republic of China.
³ International Gaming Research Unit, Psychology Department, Nottingham Trent University, Nottingham, NG1 4FQ, UK.
⁴ Academy of Psychology and Behavior, Faculty of Psychology, Tianjin Normal University, Tianjin, People's Republic of China.
⁵ Department of Medical Humanities, School of Humanities, Southeast University, Nanjing, Jiangsu, 211189, People's Republic of China.

Abstract

Introduction: The increased research examining social media addiction with its negative consequences has raised concerns over the past decade. However, little research has investigated the association between social media addiction and executive functioning as well as the mechanisms underlying this relationship.

Methods: Using a survey, the present study examined the association between social media addiction and executive functioning via emotional disturbance and sleep quality among 1051 Chinese young adults, aged 18 to 27 years old (M=21.02 years [SD=1.89]; 34.41% male).

Results: The results showed that social media addiction had a significant negative association with executive functioning but positive associations with emotional disturbance and poor sleep quality. Structural equation modeling suggested that there was a significant direct effect between social media addiction and executive functioning. Indirect effects via two paths (ie, emotional disturbance alone, and both emotional disturbance and sleep quality) were also statistically significant.

Discussion: The findings indicate that both emotional disturbance and poor sleep quality are risk-enhancing mediators in the relationship between social media addiction and executive functioning. Intervention programs (eg, emotional regulation strategies) should be considered to reduce the adverse effects of social media addiction on cognitive impairment among young adults.

Keywords: emotional disturbance; executive functioning; sleep quality; social media addiction; young adults.

Grants and funding

The research was supported by grants from the National Science Foundation of China (81771823) and Tianjin Philosophy & Social Science Research (TJJX19-007).