Social media use disorder in adolescents: Relationship to attachment styles and family harmony. An approach based on structural equation modeling

• Published in: Československá psychologie Vol. 69; no. 2; pp. 96 - 117
• Main Authors: Bayraktar, Mustafa, Ercengiz, Mustafa
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Praha Institute of Psychology, Academy of Science 21.04.2025
• Subjects: Child development; Families & family life; Social networks; Teenagers; Turkey
• ISSN: 0009-062X; 1804-6436
• DOI: 10.51561/cspsych.69.2.96

Introduction. Adolescence is a critical period of rapid growth and change during which family harmony and attachment styles play a significant role in shaping behavior. This study examines how these factors influence social media use disorder among adolescents using structural equation modeling. Methods. In this study, 355 high school students aged 14-18 (53.5% girls) studying at various levels of high school affiliated with the Ministry of National Education in Turkey participated in the 2023-2024 academic year. The study data were collected by the convenience sampling method in the classrooms where the students were enrolled. Results. According to the results obtained in the study, secure, avoidant, and anxious attachment styles have a mediating role in the relationship between family harmony and social media use disorder. An analysis of the effect values obtained from structural equation modeling shows that family harmony negatively predicts anxious and avoidant attachment styles. On the other hand, family harmony positively predicts a secure attachment style, while a secure attachment style negatively predicts social media use disorder. The model in this study shows that anxious and avoidant attachment positively affects social media use disorder. The results indicate that family harmony negatively predicts anxious and avoidant attachment styles while positively predicting secure attachment, which in turn reduces social media use disorder. Anxious and avoidant attachment styles were found to mediate the relationship between family harmony and social media use disorder. These findings emphasize the need for parental education programs to strengthen family unity and mitigate negative social media use among adolescents. Conclusions. The harmful use of social media by adolescents affects attachment to parents and family harmony. For this reason, providing family unity along with parent education will reduce the level of adolescents' exposure to negative social media. Limitations of the study. This study was conducted in one of the eastern provinces of Turkey. Therefore, the sample was limited to students enrolled in high schools in this province. In addition, data were collected only from adolescents, and no data were collected from parents or teachers. Another limitation is that data were collected at one time instead of at different times from the same individuals.