The Relationship Between Attachment Style and Social Network Addiction with the Mediating Role of Personality Traits

Abstract

Background: Social network sites (SNS) addiction has recently been a major concern and a common problem worldwide that makes it essential to examine the specifications of users and identify antecedents of it. Objectives: This study aimed at examining the relationship between attachment style and social media addiction with the mediating role of personality traits. Patients and Methods: A descriptive study with correlational type was used as a methodology in this research. The sample population was comprised of all of the students studying at universities in Tehran, Iran, during the academic year of 2018 - 2019. The participants (n = 241) were selected from universities in Tehran using the conventional method. The data were collected using measure of attachment qualities (MAQ), Social Media Disorder scale (SMDS), and Cloninger’s Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI), and then the data were analyzed using the chi-square, correlation coefficient, and structural modeling tests by SPSS and LISREL software. Results: The results showed there is a significant relationship between the worry-ambivalent (r = 0.308, P < 0.05) and the disorganize-ambivalent (r = 0.322, P < 0.05) attachment styles and the SNS addiction. Moreover, findings obtained from the structural model showed that among attachment styles, the ambivalence-disorganize attachment could mediate the social network addiction based on the character dimension of self-directedness (CFI: 0.94, NFI: 0.92, RMSEA: 0.09). Conclusions: The character dimension of self-directedness can reduce the adverse effects of insecure attachment and thus reduce the risk of addiction to SNS.

Online Addictions Among Adolescents and Young Adults in Iran: The Role of Attachment Styles and Gender

“…Evidence shows that individuals with anxiety attachment use social networking sites more than avoidance (Chen, 2019), and research indicates a positive and significant association between insecure attachment (avoidance and anxiety) and severe and inefficient use of the internet and social networks (D’Arienzo et al, 2019; Jenkins-Guarnieri et al, 2012). A study by Shafiee, Ashouri, and Dehghani (2020) among Iranian university students reported a significant association between the worry-ambivalent attachment style and the disorganize-ambivalent attachment style and social networking site addiction. As a result, individuals with high anxiety attachment and low avoidance attachment may be prone to negative consequences due to the harmful use of social media (Young et al, 2020).…”

Comprehensive meta-analysis of associations between temperament and character traits in Cloninger’s psychobiological theory and mental disorders

“… 9 , 10 Although RD is an independent psychobiological factor, the avoidant attachment style and social distance characteristics of these disorders are likely to be associated with severe HA. 37 According to Cloninger, 9 high HA and RD simultaneously lead to passive avoidance and dependent demanding. DPD and HPD were both positively associated with RD.…”