Related metacognitions, desire thinking and identity differentially predict compulsion and withdrawal symptoms in problematic Instagram use

Ian P Albery; Maria Rapelo Noriega; Daniel Frings

doi:10.1016/j.addbeh.2024.108043

Related metacognitions, desire thinking and identity differentially predict compulsion and withdrawal symptoms in problematic Instagram use

Addict Behav. 2024 Apr 23:156:108043. doi: 10.1016/j.addbeh.2024.108043. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Ian P Albery¹, Maria Rapelo Noriega², Daniel Frings²

Affiliations

¹ Division of Psychology, London South Bank University, London, United Kingdom. Electronic address: alberyip@lsbu.ac.uk.
² Division of Psychology, London South Bank University, London, United Kingdom.

PMID: 38718739
DOI: 10.1016/j.addbeh.2024.108043

Abstract

Work has identified that metacognitive thought results in desire-based thinking and perpetuates the magnitude and severity of maladaptive behaviour including problematic social media use, and also that one's ingroup identity is related to increasing problematic behaviour. No evidence has ascertained the relative contribution of these as related differential factors in the experience of problematic social media use. The current study explored the comparative importance of components of desire thinking, positive and negative metacognitions and dimensions of ingroup identity on degree of problematic use among 147 current Instagram users. Results showed that for predicting general problematic Instagram use negative metacognitive beliefs and the verbal perseverance component of desire-based thinking were significant. Importantly, however, different factors appeared to be important for predicting distinct aspects of problematic Instagram. For compulsivity indicators, negative metacognitions and verbal perseveration were essential, whereas for the withdrawal component identity centrality (and no other dimensions of identity) and imaginal prefiguration emerge as the sole independent predictors.

Keywords: Desire thinking; Identity centrality; Imaginal prefiguration; In-group identification; Instagram use; Negative metacognitive beliefs; Positive metacognitive beliefs; Verbal perseveration.