Prevalence
Define prevalence.
Prevalence = the proportion of a population who have a specific characteristic e.g. a disorder, a health problem
Define stress and identify its types.
Stress is a psychological and physiological response to a perceived challenge or threat.
Two types: acute | chronic
What does ARRM stand for?
Attention, Retention, Reproduction, Motivation
What is the difference between prevention and treatment?
Prevention stops onset; treatment addresses existing problem
Outline one feature of the BSMAS and explain its purpose.
Measures behaviours like withdrawal, relapse
Designed to identify patterns of addiction
Purpose: assess severity of social media use behaviours
Identify one reason why prevalence rates of social media addiction may lack accuracy.
- self-report bias: participants may underreport usage due to social desirability, reducing validity
- subjective definitions of “addiction”: diagnostic criteria for social media addiction are not clear and/or standardised
- sampling bias: may be unrepresentative, limiting generalisability
According to the Transactional Model, why might only some people develop social media addiction under stress?
Individuals differ in primary appraisal (how threatening something is) and secondary appraisal (ability to cope).
Those who perceive stress as overwhelming are more likely to use social media as coping, increasing addiction risk.
Identify three reasons why some individuals are more influenced by social media models.
1. similarity (age, gender)
2. status (influencers)
3. attractiveness/likeability
These increase attention and identification.
Explain why self-control may be difficult to maintain over time.
According to strength model:
Describe the aim, method, sample, and findings of Cheng et al. (2021).
Aim: Measure prevalence of social media addiction globally
Method: Meta-analysis
Sample: ~35,000 participants across 63 studies, 32 countries
Findings: Around 25% prevalence
Explain one strength and one limitation of using the BSMAS to measure prevalence.
Strengths: a) Provides a standardised measure, increasing reliability; b) Measures multiple addiction components (e.g. withdrawal, relapse) → improves construct validity
Limitations: a) Based on subjective responses, reducing construct validity; b) No agreed cut-off → inconsistent classification of “addiction”
Explain how the biological stress response can reinforce social media use.
- Stress activates amygdala → hypothalamus → fight-or-flight
- Causes discomfort (cortisol release)
- Social media provides dopamine rewards
- This creates a negative reinforcement loop: Stress → SM use → relief → repeated behaviour
- Over time, behaviour becomes habitual and potentially addictive.
Apply ARRM to explain the development of addictive use.
Explain one individual-focused and one environmental prevention strategy to prevent social media addiction.
Individual: increasing self-control
Environmental: limiting access to apps
Describe the aim, method, sample, and findings of Zhao & Zhou (2021).
Aim: Investigate relationship between stress and social media addiction
Method: Correlational study using self-report questionnaires
Sample: 512 Chinese university students
Findings: Higher stress associated with higher addiction
Explain how cultural differences may influence prevalence rates of social media addiction.
Collectivist cultures: stronger social expectations → increased pressure to engage → higher vulnerability
Individualist cultures: use may be driven by personal mood regulation
Explain how social media addiction may function as emotion-focused coping.
Instead of solving the stressor:
Leads to cycle of reliance, increasing addiction risk.
Evaluate social learning theory as an explanation for social media addiction.
Strengths:
Limitations:
Evaluate the strength model of self-control in preventing addiction.
Strength: explains why self-control fails over time; supported by research
Limitation: oversimplifies human behaviour; ignores social/environmental factors
Evaluate Zhao & Zhou (2021) in terms of methodology.
Strengths:
Limitations:
Explain the difference between the three types of effects in changing prevalence.
- Age effects: changes as individuals develop
- Cohort effects: differences due to generation (e.g. growing up with tech)
- Period effects: global events impacting all people (e.g. COVID-19)
Evaluate the claim that stress causes social media addiction.
Supporting evidence:
Limitations:
Explain bias in relation to social media addiction and social learning theory.
Social desirability bias - are individuals using SM just to fit in, to be perceived desirably? (conformity)
Sampling bias - limiting to find participants who became addicted through ARRM, and not other biological mechanisms
Identification bias - more likely to be influence by those in your environment you are emotionally connected to
Design and justify a prevention strategy for social media addiction.
Justified by:
Discuss to what extent do the studies by Cheng et al. (2021) and Zhao & Zhou (2021) support social media addiction as a health problem?
Support:
Against: