The relationship between ADHD, OCD, and problematic social media use

Problematic social media use (PSMU) has increasingly been conceptualized as an addiction-like pattern of online engagement characterized by impaired control and continued use despite negative consequences. This cross-sectional study examined whether inattentive symptoms and OCD symptoms were associated with PSMU, and whether inattentive symptoms mediated or moderated the association between OCD symptoms and PSMU, in a sample of 403 Lebanese university students who completed validated self-report measures of all three constructs. Analyses included Pearson correlations, linear regression, and PROCESS-based mediation and moderation models. Inattentive symptoms showed the strongest association with PSMU, and OCD symptoms were indirectly associated with PSMU through inattentive symptoms. Together, OCD symptoms and inattentive symptoms explained 35.98% of the variance in PSMU. Mediation analyses indicated partial mediation of the OCD-PSMU association by inattentive symptoms, whereas moderation analyses provided no evidence that inattentive symptoms altered the strength of the association between OCD symptoms and PSMU. These findings are consistent with the view that attentional dysregulation may represent an important indirect pathway linking OCD symptoms with PSMU.