Adult attachment and problematic social media use: a daily measure study

Attachment theory provides a valuable framework for understanding individual vulnerability to problematic social media use (PSMU). Previous research has found consistent evidence that PSMU is associated with increased attachment anxiety, whereas the role of attachment avoidance remains unclear. Most studies have relied on cross-sectional designs and measures that may fail to distinguish intensive from maladaptive engagement with social media. In this study, we adopted a daily diary approach in a community sample of adults (N = 89; 77.5% female; mean age = 23.64 ± 5.92 years, range = 20-50) to test whether attachment styles, defined by positive or negative representations of the self and others, predicted PSMU over a 14-day period. Participants were administered self-report instruments evaluating attachment styles and central symptoms of PSMU (i.e., mood modification, relapse, withdrawal, and conflict). Linear mixed-effects modeling revealed that higher baseline preoccupied attachment significantly predicted greater daily PSMU. Given the modest sample size, these findings should be interpreted cautiously. Nonetheless, the results provide preliminary longitudinal evidence that a negative representation of the self and a positive representation of others, as well as high levels of attachment anxiety, may increase the vulnerability to engaging in social media use as a dysfunctional compensatory strategy.