Problematic Social Media Use: Results from a Large-Scale Nationally Representative Adolescent Sample

TLDR

Despite social media use being one of the most popular activities among adolescents, prevalence estimates among teenage samples of problematic use are lacking in the field. The present study surveyed a nationally representative Hungarian sample of 5,961 adolescents as part of the European School Survey Project on Alcohol and Other Drugs (ESPAD). Latent profile analysis of 5,961 Hungarian adolescents revealed that 4.5% were at risk for problematic social media use, exhibiting low self‑esteem, high depression symptoms, and elevated use; the Bergen Social Media Addiction Scale showed adequate psychometric properties, and the authors recommend school‑based prevention and intervention programs for at‑risk youth.

Abstract

Despite social media use being one of the most popular activities among adolescents, prevalence estimates among teenage samples of social media (problematic) use are lacking in the field. The present study surveyed a nationally representative Hungarian sample comprising 5,961 adolescents as part of the European School Survey Project on Alcohol and Other Drugs (ESPAD). Using the Bergen Social Media Addiction Scale (BSMAS) and based on latent profile analysis, 4.5% of the adolescents belonged to the at-risk group, and reported low self-esteem, high level of depression symptoms, and elevated social media use. Results also demonstrated that BSMAS has appropriate psychometric properties. It is concluded that adolescents at-risk of problematic social media use should be targeted by school-based prevention and intervention programs.