title: Modeling the contribution of personality, social identity and social norms to problematic Facebook use in adolescents.
abstract: Facebook is the most popular social networking site in the world providing the opportunity to maintain and/or establish relationships, to share media contents and experiences with friends, and to easily communicate with them. Despite the resources and the innovative social features offered by Facebook research has emerged indicating that its use may become problematic, with negative consequences on personal psycho-social well-being, especially among adolescents and young adults. The main aim of this study was to examine the unique contribution of personality traits and social influence processes (i.e. subjective norms, group norms, and social identity) to perceived frequency of Facebook Use and Problematic Facebook Use in a sample of adolescents. A total of 968 Italian adolescents participated in the study. Structural equation modeling showed that emotional stability, extraversion, conscientiousness and norms directly predicted Problematic Facebook Use, whereas gender, group norms and social identity predicted perceived frequency of Facebook use. In conclusion, both personal and social variables appear to explain perceived frequency of Facebook use and Problematic Facebook Use among adolescents, and should be taken into account by researchers and educational practitioners.
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Psicologia dello Sviluppo e della Socializzazione, Universita' di Padova, Padova, Italy; Division of Psychology, School of Applied Sciences, London South Bank University, London, UK.
authors.forename: Claudia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Marino
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Psicologia dello Sviluppo e della Socializzazione, Universita' di Padova, Padova, Italy.
authors.forename: Alessio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Vieno
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Psicologia dello Sviluppo e della Socializzazione, Universita' di Padova, Padova, Italy.
authors.forename: Massimiliano
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pastore
authors.affiliation: Division of Psychology, School of Applied Sciences, London South Bank University, London, UK.
authors.forename: Ian P
authors.initials: IP
authors.lastname: Albery
authors.affiliation: Division of Psychology, School of Applied Sciences, London South Bank University, London, UK.
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Frings
authors.affiliation: Division of Psychology, School of Applied Sciences, London South Bank University, London, UK. Electronic address: spadam@lsbu.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Marcantonio M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Spada
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D000328:Adult; D016739:Behavior, Addictive / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007558:Italy; D008297:Male; D010551:Personality; D012737:Sex Factors; D012933:Social Identification; D061108:Social Media / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D066262:Social Norms; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Adolescence; Frequency of Facebook use; Personality; Problematic Facebook use; Social identity and norms