The Relationship Between Social Media Addiction and Anxiety Sensitivity, Stress Coping Strategies, and Personality Traits in Adolescents: A Cross-Sectional Study

AIM: The aim of this study is to examine the relationships between adolescents’ social media addiction, anxiety sensitivity, stress coping strategies, and personality traits; to investigate how digital media use is associated with psychological outcomes in adolescents; and to contribute to the development of evidence-based early intervention strategies.
MATRERIAL and METHOD: The study was conducted by using a cross-sectional and descriptive model on 352 adolescents selected using a purposive sampling method from middle and high schools in Mardin province. Data were collected face-to-face using the Social Media Addiction Scale for Adolescents (SMASA), Anxiety Sensitivity Index-3 (ASI), Inventory for Coping with Stressful Situations (Short Form) and Ten-Item Personality Inventory (TIPI); the data obtained were evaluated by applying correlation analysis and structural equation modelling with SPSS 25 and AMOS 24 software packages.
RESULTS: Higher SMASA scores were positively associated with ASI scores (β=0.381, p<0.001), accounting for 14.5% of the variance in ASI scores (R²=0.145). SMASA was negatively associated with task-oriented coping strategies (r=-0.108, p=0.043) and positively associated with emotion-oriented coping strategies (r=0.269, p<0.001). ASI scores were negatively associated with task-oriented coping (β=-0.126, p=0.013) and positively associated with emotion-oriented coping (β=0.504, p<0.001). Furthermore, personality traits such as low conscientiousness (r=-0.307, p<0.001), emotional stability (r=-0.215, p<0.001), and agreeableness (r=-0.234, p<0.001) were negatively associated with SMASA.
CONCLUSION: Research results indicated that the increase in social media addiction accounted for a significant proportion of variance in ASI, and this relationship is influenced by psychosocial coping strategies and personality traits. Nursing and psychiatric nursing specialists should monitor digital behaviours of adolescents, develop individualized intervention plans, and implement awareness-raising education programmes in cooperation with family, school and community. Thus, with a multidisciplinary approach, digital risks of adolescents will be reduced and their quality of life will be improved.