Emotion dysregulation and psychopathological symptoms in non-clinical adolescents: The mediating role of boredom and social media use

Abstract

Background Emotion dysregulation, boredom, and problematic social media use are well-known vulnerability factors for psychopathology during adolescence; nevertheless, the interplay between these factors remains underinvestigated in the literature. Therefore, the present cross-sectional study aimed to explore the mediating role of boredom and problematic social media use in the relations between emotion dysregulation and both internalizing and externalizing problems in a non-clinical group of Italian adolescents. Method 721 students (64.6% girls; Mage = 15.49 years ± 1.82) were involved and completed self-report tools assessing emotion dysregulation, boredom, problematic social media use, and psychopathological symptoms. Path analysis was used to test whether boredom and problematic social media use mediated the relation between emotion dysregulation and psychopathology, distinguishing between internalizing and externalizing problems. Results Path models showed that emotion dysregulation predicted both internalizing and externalizing problems, as well as boredom and problematic social media use. Importantly, boredom mediated the associations between emotion dysregulation and both psychopathological dimensions, while problematic social media use mediated only the relation with externalizing problems. Conclusions Our results highlight that the influence of emotion dysregulation on psychopathology can manifest through different paths, leading to specific symptomatology based on interactions between various variables. In particular, boredom seems to be a transdiagnostic factor for psychopathology in adolescence, whereas problematic social media use would be a dimension-specific factor. The practical implications of these findings are discussed.

The relationship between boredom proneness, the behavioral inhibition system, and anxiety in college students: variable-centered and person-centered analytic approaches

“…Boredom proneness refers to the extent to which an individual tends to experience boredom or lacks stimulation, such as feelings of loneliness or a sense of meaninglessness, leading to a negative emotional state ( Iannattone et al, 2024 ). While boredom proneness may appear subtle, it is closely associated with highly arousing negative emotional states, especially when individuals lack effective coping mechanisms for addressing boredom.…”