Problematic use of social networks: Importance of addiction-relevant constructs, such as impulsivity, experience of craving and inhibitiory control

Abstract

Background: The usage of social networks is a central part of daily life. In addition to many advantages, subjective impairments and negative consequences due to an excessive, uncontrolled use are increasingly being reported. Parallels to other internet-related addictive behavior and substance use disorders suggest that constructs, such as impulsiveness, the experience of craving and impairments in inhibitory control are risk factors for the development and maintenance of a problematic social network use. Material and methods: In this experimental study consisting of 64 participants aged between 18–59 years, an auditory cue-reactivity paradigm and a modified version of the stop-signal task were used to address cue reactivity and inhibitory control. Questionnaires were used to measure craving and impulsiveness as well as the symptom severity of problematic social network use. Results: The results show that the tendency towards a problematic use is related to greater impulsiveness and craving experiences. The inhibitory control as well as the interaction between the different constructs could not contribute further to variance explanation of symptom severity. Conclusion: The results illustrate the importance of impulsiveness and the experience of craving in developing and maintaining a problematic use of social networks. In addition, the specificity of certain stimuli with respect to the possible conflict and responding character and the associated relevance of specific cognitive components should be examined in further studies.