Problematic, absent-minded social media scrolling, and mental health

Sammanfattning

As the number of social media platforms on the market is continuously increasing, concerns and questions about their effects on mental health are also rising. The current study explored the relationship between the problematic use of social media, the absent-minded scrolling behavior, and levels of anxiety. One hundred and fifty-four participants were given an online questionnaire to assess their manners of social media use focusing on the social media scrolling experience and self-reported anxiety levels using the Generalized Anxiety Disorder Assessment tool (GAD-7). There were strong and positive relationships between the problematic use of social media platforms and the absent-minded scrolling behavior, with a statistically significant relationship with levels of anxiety. Results indicated that social media scrolling is becoming a problematic habit that helps users escape their reality and avoid problems.