The impact of social media addiction on recreation anxiety in individuals

Abstract

Aim The aim of this study is to investigate the impact of social media addiction on recreation anxiety in individuals. Methods This research was conducted using the descriptive survey model, one of the quantitative research methods. The study was carried out with 399 volunteer adult participants (160 males and 239 females) living in Çanakkale, selected through the convenience sampling method based on voluntary participation. While descriptive information was collected via a personal information form, social media addiction data were obtained using the 7-item, single-dimensional ‘social media addiction’ scale. Recreation anxiety data were gathered using the ‘recreation anxiety’ measurement tool, consisting of 25 items and 6 sub-dimensions. After conducting normality, validity, and reliability analyses of the data, the established theoretical model and hypotheses were tested using the Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) method. Results As a result of the Structural Equation Modeling, all hypotheses were found to be significant (p < 0.001). The findings indicate that the strongest impact of social media addiction is on “responsibility anxiety,” a sub-dimension of the recreation anxiety scale. Furthermore, the results reveal that social media addiction creates wide-ranging effects on an individual’s psychological, physical, and cognitive processes. Conclusion It is concluded that individuals’ social media addiction has a statistically significant impact on their recreation anxiety.