A Comparative Study on Social Media Addiction of High School and University Students

Abstract

Considering that social media addiction is probably the most recent type of technology addiction, the present study was designed based on the six components suggested by Griffiths (2013). Toward the main purpose of the study, the "Bergen Facebook Addiction Scale" was adapted to social media addiction and translated into Turkish. After the validation process, it was administered to a total of 700 students; of them 397 were high school students and 303 were university students. The data collection instrument included 18 five-point Likert-type items in six categories, along with 5 structured items regarding demographics of the respondents. In addition to the original findings of the present study, similar research on social media addiction in some other countries were examined for comparisons. The results showed that both university students and high school students have a moderate level of addiction to social media. Being a university or high school student does not make any difference on the level of social media addiction. However, significant differences were found regarding gender, duration of use, department at the university, and type of high school. Finally, the results of the study show certain similarities and a few differences with the results of the studies conducted in other countries.

Keywords

• Internet addiction,Social media,Internet addiction,Social media addiction,University students,High school students

Kaynakça

1. American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Handbook of diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (DSM-5). Washington, DC: The author.
2. Andreassen, S.C., Torsheim, T., Brunborg, G., Pallesen, S. (2014). Development of a Facebook addiction scale. Psychological Reports, 110(2), 501-517.
3. Blachnio, A., Przepiorka, A. & Pantic, I. (2016). Association between Facebook addiction, self-esteem and life satisfaction: A cross sectional study. Computers in Human Behavior, 55, 701-705.
4. Cao, F., Su, L., Liu, T., & Gao, X. (2007). The relationship between impulsivity and Internet addiction in a sample of Chinese adolescents. European Psychiatry, 22(7), 466-471.
5. Caplan, S.E. (2002). Problematic internet use and psychosocial well-being: Development of a theory based cognitive-behavioral measurement instrument. Computers in Human Behavior, 18(2), 553-575.
6. Colwell, J. & Kato, M. (2003). Investigation of the relationship between social isolation, self-esteem, aggression and computer game play in Japanese adolescents. Asian Journal of Social Psychology, 6, 149-158.
7. Davies, T. & Cranson, P. (2008). Youth work and social networking. Retrieved October 1, 2017 from http://www.nya.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/Youth-Work-and-Social-Networking-Final-Report-August-2008.pdf
8. De Cock, R., Vangeel, J., Klein, A., & Meerkerk, G. (2014). Compulsive use of social networking sites in Belgium: Prevalence, profile, and the role of attitude toward work and school. Cyberpsychology, Behavior and Social Networking, 17(3), 166-171.

9. Griffiths, M.D. (2013). Social networking addiction: Emerging themes and issues. Journal of Addiction Research & Therapy, 4(5). doi:10.4172/2155-6105.1000e118
10. Griffiths, M.D. & Pontes, H.M. (2014). Internet addiction disorder and internet gaming disorder are not the same. Journal of Addiction Research & Therapy, 5(4), doi:10.4172/2155-6105.1000e124.
11. Huang, H. & Leung, L. (2009). Instant messaging addiction among teenagers in China: Shyness, alienation and academic performance decrement. Cyberpsychological Behavior, 12(6), 675-679.
12. Idubor, I. (2015). Investigating social media usage and addiction levels among undergraduates in University of Ibadan, Nigeria. British Journal of Education, Society & Behavioural Science, 7(4), 291-301.
13. Jaffarkarimi, H. et al. (2016). Facebook addiction among Malaysian students. International Journal of Information and Education Technology, 6(6), 465-469.
14. Jaffri, H. (2015). A study on Facebook addiction and its relationship with emotional experience and coping strategies. The International Journal of Indian Psychology, 2(4), 6-14.
15. Kerberg, C. S. (2005). Problem and pathological gambling among college athletes. Annals of Clinical Psychiatry, 17(4), 243-247.
16. Kim, K. et al. (2009). Internet overuse and excessive daytime sleepiness in adolescents. Psychiatry Clin Neurosci, 63(4), 455-462.
17. Koc, M. & Gulyagci, S. (2013). Facebook addiction among Turkish college students: The role of psychological health, demographic, and usage characteristics. Cyberpsychol Behavior Social Network, 16(4), 279-284.
18. Kuss, D. & Griffiths, M.D. (2011). Excessive online social networking: Can adolescents become addicted to Facebook? Education and Health, 29(4), 68-71.
19. Lin, M. P., Ko, H. C., & Wu, J. Y. (2011). Prevalence and psychosocial risk factors associated with internet addiction in a nationally representative sample of college students in Taiwan. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, 14, 741-746.
20. Monacis, L., de Palo, V., Griffiths, M. D., & Sinatra, M. (2017). Social networking addiction, attachment style, and validation of the Italian version of the Bergen Social Media Addiction Scale. Journal of Behavioral Addictions, 6(2), 178-186.
21. Morahan-Martin, J. & Schumacher, P. (2000). Incidents and correlates of pathological internet use among college students. Computers in Human Behavior, 16(1), 13-29.
22. Peter, J. & Valkenburg, P. M. (2006a). Adolescents’ exposure to sexually explicit online material and recreational attitudes toward sex. Communication Research, 56, 639-660.
23. Rosen L.D., Whaling, K., Carrier L.M., Cheever, N.A., & Rokkum, J. (2013). The media and technology usage and attitudes scale: An empirical investigation. Computers in Human Behavior, 29(6), 2501-2511.
24. Salem, A. A., Almenaye, N.S., & Andreassen, C.S. (2016). A psychometric evaluation of Bergen Facebook Addiction Scale (BFAS) of university students. International Journal of Psychology and Behavioral Sciences, 6(5), 199-205.
25. Shaffer, H.J. (1996) Understanding the means and objects of addiction: Technology, the Internet, and gambling. Journal of Gambling Studies, 12(4), 461-469.
26. Steggink, B. W. (2015). Facebook addiction: Where does it come from? A study based on the Bergen Facebook Addiction Scale (Unpublished master's thesis). University of Twente. The Netherlands.
27. Sussman, S., Liha, N., & Griffiths, M. (2011). Prevalence of the addictions: A problem of the majority or the minority? Evaluation and the Health Professions, 34(1), 3-56.
28. Tokunaga, R. S. (2011). Social networking site or social surveillance site? Understanding the use of interpersonal electronic surveillance in romantic relationships. Computers in Human Behavior, 27(2), 705-713.
29. Wang, C. W., Ho, R. T., Chan, C. L., & Tse, S. (2015). Exploring personality characteristics of Chinese adolescents with Internet-related addictive behaviors: Trait differences for gaming addiction and social networking addiction. Addictive Behaviors, 42, 32-35.
30. Yen, C. Ko, C. Yen. (2007). The comorbid psychiatric symptoms of internet addiction: attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), depression, social phobia, and hostility. Journal of Adolesc Health, 41, 93-98.
31. Young, K. (1998). Internet addiction: The emergence of a new clinical disorder. CyberPsychology & Behavior, 1(3), 237-244.
32. Zaffari, M. et al. (2015). Facebook addiction: Relation with depression, anxiety, loneliness and academic performance of Pakistani students. Sci. Int. (Lahore), 27(3), 2469-2475
33. Zhang, L., Amos, C., McDowell, C. (2008). A comparative study of Internet addiction between the United States and China. CyberPsychology and Behavior, 11(6), 727-729.