The Role of Attentional Bias Toward Negative Emotional Information and Social Anxiety in Problematic Social Media Use

The current study aimed to analyze whether individuals with problematic social media use (PSMU) demonstrate attentional bias (AB) toward negative emotional information and determine the relationships among the severity of PSMU, social anxiety, and negative AB. Sixty participants were divided into problematic and normal use groups according to their scores on the Bergen Social Media Addiction Scale (BSMAS). The BSMAS and Interaction Anxiety Scale were adopted to measure the severity of PSMU and social anxiety, respectively. An emotional Stroop task and a visual dot-probe task (DPT) were used to assess AB toward negative emotional expressions. Relationships among the severity of PSMU, social anxiety, and negative AB were investigated using Pearson's correlation coefficient. Results showed that individuals with PSMU demonstrated AB toward negative emotional information in the emotional DPT but not in the emotional Stroop task. AB toward negative emotional information was positively correlated with the severity of PSMU and social anxiety in the emotional DPT. Findings support the key role of negative AB and social anxiety in individuals with PSMU, suggesting that more attention be paid to negative AB and social anxiety for the prevention and treatment of PSMU. [Journal of Psychosocial Nursing and Mental Health Services, xx(x), xx–xx.]