Risk and Protective Factors Associated with Excessive Social Media Use, Addiction, and Reduction in a Hispanic/Latinx College Student Sample

Marcos Lerma, University of Texas at El Paso

Abstract

The literature on social media as a behavioral addiction has grown considerably over the past decade. Excessive social media use and social media addiction have been associated with multiple adverse health consequences. Nevertheless, there is a paucity of research assessing potential risk and protective factors for social media use, social media addiction, failure to control one’s social media use, and motivation to reduce social media use in a Hispanic/Latinx sample. This study aimed to fill this gap in the literature by assessing potential risk and protective factors within the National Institute of Minority Health and Health Disparities Research Framework. Hispanic/Latinx college students (n = 273; 76.9% female) completed an online survey that assessed weekly social media use, social media addiction, social media self-control failure, motivation to reduce social media use acculturation, perceived microaggression, familism, fear of missing out (FoMO), impulsivity, social media craving (SMC), social prioritization, social comparison, and general social media tendencies. Univariate analyses determined independent variables to be assessed in four linear regression models. Results indicated that weekly social media use was negatively associated with biological sex, attentional impulsivity and social comparison, and positively associated with SMC, primarily using social media at work, and current use of social media use relative to use pre-COVID-19 pandemic. Social media addiction was positively associated with frequency of posting on social media in Spanish, FoMO, SMC, current use of social media relative to use pre-COVID-19 pandemic, and restriction of social media use at home. Social media self-control failure was negatively associated with acculturative language and positively associated with frequency of social media posting in English, attentional impulsiveness, SMC, and restriction of social media use at home. Motivation to reduce social media use was positively associated with country of residence. Future directions for research include the use of prospective studies that extend current findings by including other socioecological domains or levels of influence and/or other Latinx non-college student, emerging adult groups. Clinical implications include targeting key factors such as SMC and FoMO through the use of mindfulness and cognitive behavioral-based interventions to promote healthier social media use patterns.

Subject Area

Psychology|Higher education|Web Studies|Mental health|Hispanic American studies

Recommended Citation

Lerma, Marcos, "Risk and Protective Factors Associated with Excessive Social Media Use, Addiction, and Reduction in a Hispanic/Latinx College Student Sample" (2021). ETD Collection for University of Texas, El Paso. AAI28497916.
https://scholarworks.utep.edu/dissertations/AAI28497916

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