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. 2020 Aug 13;9(3):686-697.
doi: 10.1556/2006.2020.00036. Print 2020 Oct 12.

Associations between symptoms of problematic smartphone, Facebook, WhatsApp, and Instagram use: An item-level exploratory graph analysis perspective

Dmitri Rozgonjuk  1   2 , Cornelia Sindermann  1 , Jon D Elhai  3   4 , Alexander P Christensen  5 , Christian Montag  1
Affiliations

Associations between symptoms of problematic smartphone, Facebook, WhatsApp, and Instagram use: An item-level exploratory graph analysis perspective

Dmitri Rozgonjuk et al. J Behav Addict. .

Abstract

Background and aims: Studies have demonstrated associations between both problematic smartphone and social networks use with everyday life adversities. However, examination of associations between problematic smartphone use (PSU) and problematic use of specific social networking platforms, especially on item-level data, has received relatively little attention. Therefore, the aim of the current study was to explore how items of problematic smartphone, Facebook, WhatsApp, and Instagram use are associated.

Methods: 949 German-speaking adults participated in a web survey study. The participants were queried about their socio-demographics as well as levels of problematic smartphone, Facebook, WhatsApp, and Instagram use. In addition to bivariate correlation analysis, exploratory graph analysis (EGA), a type of network analysis, was conducted.

Results: The results showed that while problematic Facebook and Instagram use seem to be distinct phenomena, problematic smartphone and WhatsApp use were heavily intertwined. Furthermore, the only cross-platform symptom observed was the extent of reported pain in wrists and neck due to digital technology use. The EGA network models showed very good stability in bootstrap analyses.

Discussion and conclusions: In general, the results of this study suggest that while Instagram and Facebook use may potentially constitute distinct problematic behaviors, problematic smartphone/WhatsApp use scales may be measuring highly similar or even the same construct.

Keywords: Facebook; Instagram; WhatsApp; problematic smartphone use; smartphone addiction; smartphone use disorder.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors report no financial or other relationship relevant to the subject of this article. Despite this CM mentions that he has received (to Ulm University and earlier University of Bonn) grants from the German Research Foundation (DFG). CM has performed grant reviews for several agencies; has edited journal sections and articles; has given academic lectures in clinical or scientific venues or companies; and has generated books or book chapters for publishers of mental health texts. For some of these activities he received royalties, but never from the gaming or social media industry. CM mentions that he is part of a discussion circle (Digitalität und Verantwortung: https://about.fb.com/de/news/h/gespraechskreis-digitalitaet-und-verantwortung/) debating ethical questions linked to social media, digitalization and society/democracy at Facebook. In this context, he receives no salary for his activities.

JDE notes that he receives royalties for several books published on posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD); is a paid, full-time faculty member at University of Toledo; is a paid, visiting scientist at Tianjin Normal University; occasionally serves as a paid, expert witness on PTSD legal cases; and receives grant research funding from the U.S. National Institutes of Health and Department of Defense.

Figures

Fig. 1.
Fig. 1.
EGA (left) and bootstrapped EGA median network (left) with redundant items merged. Notes. S = problematic smartphone use; W = problematic WhatsApp use; F = problematic Facebook use; I = problematic Instagram use. Numbers in item name correspond to items in the respective scales. Combination of different letters and numbers indicates to merged redundant variables. Please note that each network/factor is depicted by a unique color. Items forming dimensions are: (1) Smartphone-WhatsApp items, (2) Instagram items, and (3) Facebook items and item 3. The thickness of lines (edges) depicts the strength of the relationship between two nodes
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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