Seeking Satisfaction Among Israeli Young Adults: The Roles of Gratification, Compensation, Reward Deficiency...

Behavioral addictions, such as problematic use of social media, gaming disorder, gambling disorder, and compulsive buying-shopping disorder, are increasingly common among young adults worldwide. The aim of the present study was to identify distinctive factors of these behavioral addictions, focusing on gratification and compensation, reward deficiency syndrome, and compulsivity among young adults.

The sample comprised 1459 Jewish Israeli young adults from the general community (36% male, 64% female; aged 19-27 years). Participants were surveyed regarding general and compulsive/problematic engagement in shopping, online gaming, gambling, and social media use. The study also assessed gratification and compensation specific to each behavior, as well as reward deficiency syndrome and compulsivity.

Network analysis of behavioral addiction measures identified three key factors related to buying-shopping, online gaming, and combined gambling and use of social media, with problematic engagement implicated. Gambling disorder acted as an important bridge, connecting different sub-networks and facilitating communication and information flow between them. Subsequently, using structural equation modeling, a higher need for gratification and compensation and more severe reward deficiencies were associated with greater severity across all four addictive behaviors. In contrast, compulsivity was inversely associated with the factor combining gambling and use of social media.

The present study highlights the complex relationship between gratification, reward deficiency, and compulsivity in young adults' addictive behaviors. It suggests a need for interventions that specifically address gratification and compensation, raising the possibility that a targeted approach could potentially mitigate the severity of multiple addictive behaviors.