#Hooked? Extending the social cognitive model in examining the antecedents of problematic social network sites use among Singaporean adolescents and adults

Cases of social network sites (SNSs) users potentially developing problematic SNSs use have revived scholarly interest in addictive media research in the last few years. As a nascent research area, there is a need for clear communication-centric theoretical paradigms and rigorous methods in guiding empirical inquiry in problematic SNSs use. The purpose of this thesis is to test and extend the social cognitive model of problematic media use in the context of SNSs and examine what are the external and individual-level antecedents of problematic SNSs use among Singaporean adolescents and adults. Chapter One identifies some of the gaps in existing problematic media use research, highlights the objectives of this thesis, and outlines how subsequent chapters attempt to bridge these existing gaps. Chapter Two defines SNSs, highlights their distinctiveness from other social media applications, and describes their prevalent use among adolescents and adults. Chapter Three contains the first study in this thesis—a critical review—which gives an overview of problematic media use research, identifies the strengths and weaknesses of existing theoretical frameworks used in problematic media use research, and argues why the social cognitive model has the most potential for theoretical development and extension in the field of communication. The chapter also presents the social cognitive model as the overarching framework that will guide rest of the studies. Chapter Four contains the second study in this thesis, which tests the viability of the social cognitive model in explaining problematic SNSs use on a sample of 293 secondary students aged 13 to 17 years in Singapore using covariance structure modeling. In the study, the results showed that adolescents’ time spent on SNSs was a function of both deficient self-observation and deficient self-regulation. Second, self-reactive outcome expectations were positively associated with deficient self-observation and deficient self-reaction. Third, depression and loneliness were positively associated with self-reactive outcome expectations and deficient self-reaction. The overall analysis showed that the social cognitive model was a viable communication model in understanding problematic SNSs use as it had good psychometric properties and all the hypothesized paths were significant. Chapter Five—which is the third study—builds upon the findings of Chapter Four by postulating that problematic SNSs use is a three-dimensional factor comprising of excessive SNSs use, withdrawal symptoms, and negative outcomes, and extends the social cognitive model to include both external- (relationship with parents) and individual-level antecedents (i.e., depression, loneliness, dependence on SNSs for identity formation, and self-reactive outcome expectations). The model was tested on a large-scale nationally representative sample of adolescents aged between 13 and 17 (n = 4,920) recruited using multi-stage cluster and simple random sampling. The results supported the proposed three-dimension problematic SNSs use factor, as well as the extended social cognitive model. Most of the hypothesized paths received empirical support. Most notably, a nuanced difference in how paternal and maternal relationships were associated with adolescents’ problematic SNSs was found—adolescents who had poor relationships with their fathers were more likely to depend on SNSs for identity formation—which had the strongest association with deficient self-regulation. Last but not last, Chapter Six seeks to test another version of social cognitive model on an adult sample. This fourth study proposes that the social cognitive model can integrate key components from Caplan’s problematic Internet use model—preference for online social interaction and mood alteration—to explain why adults develop problematic SNSs use. The study also examines how a different set of external- (social capital) and individual-level antecedents (SNSs use motivations) relate to problematic SNSs use among a large scale nationally representative sample of Singaporean adults aged between 19 and 50 (n = 1,000). The results showed that the integrated model had good fit and received partial support for the hypothesized paths. Bonding and bridging capital, as well as various SNSs motivations (social connection, shared identities, and social investigation), were positively associated with mood alteration; only dependence on SNSs to derive shared identities was positively associated with both preference for online social interaction and mood alteration. Preference for online social interaction and mood alteration both had positive associations with deficient self-regulation, which was a key antecedent of problematic SNSs use in the model. Overall, the findings from this thesis have demonstrated that the social cognitive model is a viable communication model in showing how problematic SNSs use may develop in both adolescents and adults by accounting for the roles of various external- and individual-level antecedents through deficient self-regulation. The theoretical and practical implications of the thesis are discussed in Chapter Seven.​Doctor of Philosophy (WKWSCI