Meta-inner humor beliefs and problematic social media use: A six-month longitudinal test of metacognitive pathways

No previous studies have ever examined humor as a diffusion strategy in the context of technology use. The present study is the first to investigate whether meta-inner humor beliefs (MIHBs) are prospectively associated with problematic social media use (PSMU) via metacognitions about social media use. A prospective, two-wave longitudinal design with a bidirectional cross-lagged panel (CLPA) model was used to examine associations between adaptive and maladaptive MIHBs on PSMU, examining the indirect pathway of positive and negative metacognitions about social media use (meta-SMUs). The study was conducted across two waves at a six-month interval. At Wave 1, a large community sample (N = 1,253; 58.2 % females; age = 36.8 years [SD ± 14.1]) participated in the study, and at Wave 2, 78.1 % of the starting sample completed the follow-up assessment. Results from the bidirectional CLPA showed that adaptive MIHBs at Wave 1 were significantly associated with lower negative and positive meta-SMUs at Wave 2. In contrast, maladaptive MIHBs were only associated with higher negative meta-SMUs at Wave 2. Also, negative meta-SMUs predicted an increase in PSMU six months later, whereas it was non-significant for positive meta-SMUs. Analyses of bidirectional indirect pathways demonstrated that adaptive MIHBs were indirectly related to lower PSMU through reduced negative metacognitions, while maladaptive MIHBs were indirectly related to higher PSMU through elevated negative metacognitions. Multi-group analyses established full longitudinal measurement and structural invariance across gender. The findings underscore the potential role of humor-related metacognitive pathways in the maintenance of PSMU, suggesting that humor-based psychotherapeutic approaches warrant further investigation.