Addiction to Social Media and Attachment Styles: A Systematic Literature Review

Abstract

Web-based communication via social networking sites (SNSs) is growing fast among adolescents and adults and some research suggests that excessive SNS use can become an addiction among a small minority of individuals. There is a growing body of research that has examined the impact of attachment styles and its influence on internet addiction (more generally) and social media addiction (more specifically). Consequently, the present study systematically reviewed the evidence concerning internet/social media addiction and attachment style. A total of 32 papers published between 2000 and 2018 met the inclusion criteria following searches in the following databases: Scopus, Web of Science, PubMed, ProQuest, and Google Scholar. Findings demonstrated a significant positive association between insecure attachment (anxious and avoidant) and a more intensive and dysfunctional use of the internet and social media. Findings demonstrate that those with insecure attachment appear to use the social media sites as a way of replacing and compensating affection that is missing from those around the individual (e.g., family and peers). The findings suggest that the gratification model provides a useful framework to understand the effects of parental attachment on social media addiction. Limitations and future research are also discussed.

Adult Attachment Orientations and Social Networking Site Addiction: The Mediating Effects of Online Social Support and the Fear of Missing Out

“…As a new type of behavioral addiction, SNS addiction has received much scholarly attention globally in recent years, and there are numerous studies exploring the risk factors linked to SNS addiction (Marino et al, 2018a,b). Prior studies found that attachment, especially insecure attachment, is closely related to SNS general use and addiction (Blackwell et al, 2017;Monacis et al, 2017;Flynn et al, 2018;Worsley et al, 2018a,b;Chen, 2019;D' Arienzo et al, 2019;Marino et al, 2019). Our results are consistent with prior findings.…”

“…Although SNSs have considerable benefits, excessive use of SNS has been found to have detrimental effects on human behavior (Marino et al, 2018a). Therefore, many scholars have explored factors associated with SNS addiction, among which attachment has received much attention (Blackwell et al, 2017;Monacis et al, 2017;Flynn et al, 2018;Worsley et al, 2018a;Chen, 2019;D' Arienzo et al, 2019;Marino et al, 2019). However, the underlying mechanisms between attachment and SNS addiction remain unclear.…”

Objectified Body Consciousness, Body Image Control in Photos, and Problematic Social Networking: The Role of Appearance Control Beliefs

“…Fredrickson and Roberts, 1997;Aubrey, 2006;Meier and Gray, 2014). In the past few years, the increasing popularity of social media use and the large increase in engagement of adolescents and young people in social networking (Mascheroni and Ólafsson, 2018;D'Arienzo et al, 2019;Gioia and Boursier, 2019) have led researchers to focus on SNS use as a new and highly accessible medium for socializing with self-objectification experiences and OBC (de Vries and Peter, 2013;Fardouly et al, 2015;Manago et al, 2015;Bell et al, 2018;Cohen et al, 2018;Caso et al, 2019).…”

“…salience, mood modification, tolerance, withdrawal, relapse, and conflict) to evaluate problematic SNS use (e.g. Griffiths, 2005;Andreassen et al, 2016;Kuss and Griffiths, 2017;Monacis et al, 2017;D'Arienzo et al, 2019). On the contrary, according to a social-cognitive model, researchers have conceptualized problematic online activities in terms of difficulties in impulse control and mood regulation, subsequent negative outcomes resulting from online misuse, and preference for online social interactions, due to a perceived lack of social skills (e.g.…”

Consideraciones teóricas acerca del apego en adultos

“…Los estilos de apego incluso han sido estudiados en relación con la adicción al internet, encontrándose una relación significativamente positiva entre el estilo de apego inseguro (ansioso y evitativo) y un uso más intensivo y disfuncional de redes sociales, como una manera de reemplazar y compensar los afectos no recibidos del medio cercano del individuo (D'Arienzo, Boursier, & Griffiths, 2019).…”