Previous research into social networking site (SNS) use and well-being has predominantly focused on time spent online.However, this can often lead to the underestimation of behaviours associated with SNS use, such as how users engage with SNS platforms.This study aimed to investigate the relationship between SNS engagement patterns, namely active, passive and problematic usage patterns, and their relationship with anxiety, depression and self-esteem.Appearance anxiety was also examined as a mediating factor between Instagram engagement patterns and the selected well-being patterns.A sample of 290 participants reported their SNS engagement in a cross-sectional psychometric survey.Associations were investigated with markers for depression, anxiety, self-esteem, and appearance anxiety.Problematic use was associated with symptoms of anxiety and depression, and active use was negatively associated with depression.Appearance anxiety was revealed as a significant mediator for passive use on anxiety and depression, as well as for problematic use on anxiety and depression.Findings indicate problematic and passive usage patterns to have negative impacts regarding anxiety and depression symptomology, in addition to highlighting the role of appearance anxiety on well-being outcomes, contributing towards a better understanding of the underlying mechanisms associated with Instagram usage and well-being.

As organizations increasingly utilize ICT to foster innovation, understanding the role of individual dynamics and organizational arrangements becomes a necessity to maximize the potential of ICT for innovation. Drawing on affordance theory, the present research aims to examine whether and how IT mindfulness serves as a precursor to ICT-enabled innovation, investigating the mediating effect of techno-invasion and the moderating roles of cyber-slacking and age. Data from 358 public school teachers revealed that IT mindfulness plays a supportive and techno-invasion a constraining role on ICT-enabled innovation. Moreover, the results showed that minor cyberslacking moderates the indirect effect of IT mindfulness and the three-way interaction among techno-invasion, minor cyberslacking and age in explaining ICT-enabled innovation was significant. The research offers insights into the multifaceted dynamics of innovation, emphasizing that technology alone does not ensure innovation; human and organizational factors are essential as well. Furthermore, the results provide insight into the dual role of cyberslacking, as it can either foster or impede innovation.

Research findings on inter-relationships between subtypes of Problematic Internet Use with wellbeing, loneliness and Fear of Missing Out are inconsistent. The present study used psychometric assessments on the subtypes, general problematic internet use, problematic smartphone use, problematic social media use, problematic gaming, and problematic pornography use, loneliness, wellbeing and FOMO from 834 university students (mean age 22 years, 45% male) to explore these relationships in a partial correlation network and using variance partitioning. A partial correlation network provides a coherent representation of the inter-relationships between the factors in a network topology. The impacts of the relationships are quantified by variance partitioning which quantifies the unique variance explained by individual predictor variables and that explained by their overlap with other variables. The analysis suggests that gender differences exist; increased student loneliness and reduced wellbeing are linked directly to general problematic internet use, particularly for the lonely or those with reduced wellbeing and more so for males. Fear of Missing Out is linked to social media and smartphone use. Inconsistent findings in previous research may be explained by confounding variables. Educational institutions should offer support to students to develop awareness of the potential negative consequences of problematic internet use for student health.

Since their commercial introduction in the 1970s, videogames have become an increasingly popular form of entertainment leading to the multi-billion-pound industry seen today (Juniper Research, 2020...

Internet Addiction (IA) constitutes an excessive Internet use behavior with a significant impact on the user’s well-being. Online flow describes the users’ level of being absorbed by their online activity. The present study investigated age-related, gender, and flow effects on IA in adolescence. The sample comprised 648 adolescents who were assessed twice at age 16 and 18 years. IA was assessed using the Internet Addiction Test and online flow was assessed using the Online Flow Questionnaire. A three-level hierarchical model estimated age-related, gender, and online flow effects on IA symptoms and controlled for clustered random effects. IA symptoms decreased over time (for both genders) with a slower rate in males. Online flow was associated with IA symptoms and this remained consistent over time. Findings expand upon the available literature suggesting that IA symptoms could function as a development-related manifestation at the age of 16 years, while IA-related gender differences gradually increase between 16 and 18 years. Finally, the association between online flow and IA symptoms remained stable independent of age-related effects. The study highlights individual differences and provides directions for more targeted prevention and intervention initiatives for IA.

Presence describes the feeling of reality and immersion that users of virtual/Internet environments have. Importantly, it has been suggested that there are individual and contextual differences regarding susceptibility to presence. These aspects of presence have been linked to both beneficial and disadvantageous uses of the Internet, such as online therapeutic applications and addictive Internet behaviours. In the present study, presence was studied in relation to individual anxiety symptoms and classroom-level openness to experience (OTE) using a normative sample of 648 adolescents aged between 16 and 18 years. Presence was assessed with the Presence II questionnaire, anxiety symptoms with the relevant subscales of the SCL-90-R, and OTE with the Five-Factor Questionnaire. A three-level hierarchical linear model was calculated. Results showed that experiencing presence in virtual environments dropped between the ages of 16 and 18 years. Additionally, although anxiety symptoms were associated with higher presence at 16 years, this association decreased with age. Results also demonstrated that adolescents in classrooms higher on OTE reported reduced level of experiencing presence. The practical and theoretical implications of these findings are discussed.