A two-generation study: The transmission of attachment and young adults' depression, anxiety, and social media addiction

Addict Behav. 2021 Sep 3;124:107109. doi: 10.1016/j.addbeh.2021.107109. Online ahead of print.ABSTRACTSocial media use is on the rise among young adults (YA) and evidence suggests a positive association between social media addiction (SMA) and the psychological symptoms of depression and anxiety globally. However, the contribution of attachment and its transgenerational influence on YAs' SMA and psychological symptoms have not been widely explored. Thus, we examined how parental reports of attachment (anxiety and avoidance) can directly and through YAs' attachment predict YAs' SMA, depression and anxiety symptoms. A sample of 375 YAs (MAge = 21.22) and their parents completed the Emotions in Close Relationships-Revised Questionnaire (Fraley et al., 2000), and the Brief Symptom Inventory (Deragotis, 1992). The SMA Scale (Sahin, 2018) was responded to by only YAs. We tested the pattern of associations in a path model. Parental attachment anxiety predicted YAs' attachment anxiety and only paternal attachment avoidance predicted YAs' attachment avoidance. YAs' attachment anxiety and avoidance predicted their depression and anxiety. However, YAs' attachment anxiety uniquely predicted their SMA. Both parents' attachment anxiety indirectly predicted the link between YAs' attachment anxiety and depression, but only paternal attachment avoidance indirectly predicted the association between YAs' attachment avoidance and depression. Furthermore, paternal attachment avoidance indirectly ...
Source: Addictive Behaviors - Category: Addiction Authors: Source Type: research