An exploration of the link between adult attachment and problematic Facebook use

Abstract

Participants were required to indicate by means of a five-point Likert scale ranging from 0 = “never” to 4 = “very often”, the frequency with which they engaged in certain self-disclosures on Facebook (e.g. How often do you share information about your mood states (e.g. anger, sadness, frustration) on Facebook, that you would not usually share in front of large groups of people when you are offline?) Factor analysis was completed on the Facebook self-disclosure items, supporting a one-factor solution for measuring participants’ tendencies to disclose on Facebook, which accounted for 49.9% of the total variance. Table 5 Hierarchical multiple regression analyses testing predictive models of attachment insecurity and problematic Facebook use Models Self-disclosure Intrusive-risky/impulsive Social comparison Impression management Intrusive- social Intrusive- emotional Predictors B SE B β B SE B β B SE B β B SE B β B SE B β B SE B β Stress 0.01 .00 0.13* 0.12 0.04 0.17* 0.25 0.06 0.28** 0.30 0.07 0.21** 0.06 0.02 0.18* 0.03 0.02 .09 Daily time .00 .00 0.14** 0.02 .00 0.25** .00 .00 0.03 .00 .00 .00 0.01 .00 0.19** .01 .00 .15** No. of friends 9.35 .00 0.10* .00 .00 0.12** .00 .00 0.12** .00 .00 0.04 2.11 .00 .00 .00 .00 .08* Self-esteem −.00 .00 −0.07* −0.14 0.04 −0.11* −0.35 0.07 −0.18** −0.64 0.09 −0.25** − 0.06 0.02 − 0.10* −0.07 0.03 −.10* Age .00 .00 0.08* −0.07 0.22 −0.19* − 0.08 0.03 − 0.09* −0.09 0.04 −0.07 − 0.01 0.01 − 0.03 −0.01 0.01 −.02 Gender −0.02 0.03 −0.02 0.53 0.43 0.04 2.10 0.66 0.12** −0.56 0.88 − 0.02 −0.02 0.20 −.00 0.62 0.25 .09* Anxiety 0.01 .00 0.13* 0.06 0.05 0.06 0.16 0.08 0.10 0.22 0.19 0.11* 0.08 0.02 0.17* 0.07 0.03 .12* 1 R2 0.11** 0.21** 0.21** 0.19** 0.18** 0.10** Stress 0.01 .00 0.13* 0.12 0.04 0.17* 0.24 0.06 0.22** 0.29 0.07 0.20** 0.06 0.02 0.18* 0.03 0.02 .08 Daily time .00 .00 0.14** 0.02 .00 0.25** .00 .00 0.03 .00 .00 .00 0.01 .00 0.19** 0.01 .00 .15** No. of friends 9.35 .00 0.10* .00 .00 0.12* .00 .00 0.12** .00 .00 0.02 −5.82 .00 −0.01 .00 .00 .07 Self-esteem −.00 .00 −0.05 −0.11 0.05 −0.08* −0.30 0.07 −.016** −0.48 0.09 −0.19** −0.03 0.02 −0.06 − 0.05 0.03 −.07 Age .00 .00 0.07* −0.08 0.22 −0.13** −0.09 0.03 −0.10* − 0.11 0.04 − 0.09* −0.01 0.01 −0.05 − 0.01 0.01 −.03 Gender −.00 0.03 −0.01 0.86 0.44 0.07 2.53 0.67 0.13** 0.87 0.87 0.03 0.19 0.20 0.03 0.78 0.25 .11* Anxiety 0.01 .00 0.11 0.03 0.05 0.03 0.12 0.08 0.07 0.08 0.10 0.04 0.06 0.02 0.13* 0.05 0.03 .09 Attachment avoidance 0.03 0.01 0.10* 0.67 0.18 0.13** 0.88 0.27 0.17** 2.88 0.35 0.29** 0.42 0.08 0.19** 0.32 0.10 .12* 2 R2 full model 0.12** 0.23* 0.22** 0.26** 0.21** 0.11** R2 Change 0.01** 0.02* 0.01** 0.07** 0.03** 0.01* Stress 0.01 .00 0.11 0.09 0.04 0.13* 0.17 0.05 0.16** 0.24 0.07 0.17* 0.05 0.02 0.14* 0.02 0.02 .05 Daily Time .00 .00 0.14** 0.02 .00 0.25** .00 .00 0.02 .00 .00 .00 0.01 .00 0.19** 0.01 .00 .15** No. of friends 8.49 .00 0.09* .00 .00 0.10* .00 .00 0.10* .00 .00 0.01 .00 .00 −0.02 .00 .00 .06 Self-esteem −.00 .00 −0.03 −0.08 0.05 −0.06 −0.23 0.07 −0.12** −0.42 0.09 −0.16** −0.02 0.02 0.03 −0.04 0.03 −.05 Age .00 .00 0.08* −0.07 0.22 −0.12* −0.07 0.03 −0.08* −.010 0.04 −0.08* 0.01 0.01 0.04 −0.01 0.01 −.02 Gender −.00 0.03 −.00 0.86 0.44 0.07 2.52 0.65 0.13** 0.86 0.86 0.03 0.19 0.20 0.03 0.77 0.25 .11* Anxiety 0.01 .00 0.10 0.01 0.05 0.01 0.08 0.08 0.05 0.06 0.10 0.03 0.05 0.02 0.12* 0.05 0.03 .08 Attachment avoidance 0.02 0.01 0.05 0.31 0.21 0.06 −0.13 0.31 −0.02 2.15 0.41 0.21** 0.24 0.09 0.11* 0.16 0.12 .06 Attachment anxiety 0.03 0.01 0.12* 0.65 0.19 0.15* −1.82 0.28 0.28** 1.32 0.37 0.16** 0.33 0.09 0.18** 0.29 0.11 .13* 3 R2 full model 0.12** 0.24** 0.27** 0.27** 0.23** 0.12** R2 change 0.01** 0.01** 0.04** 0.01** 0.02** 0.01* Notes: 1 = Block 1 (contribution of control variables) 2 = Block 2 (additional contribution of attachment avoidance) 3 = Block 3 (additional contribution of attachment anxiety) * p < .05, ** p < .001 Attachment anxiety emerged as a significant predictor of all aspects of problematic Facebook use, even when the effects of additional significant predictor variables had been controlled for, thus supporting H1 a-d (See Table 5). According to several researchers, it is these factors that are crucial in providing a sense of security, attunement, and safety to others during the development of attachment relationships [104–106]. According to [107] a range of factors can impact upon attachment patterns throughout the life span (cf.