Jeong-Woo Jang, Jung Ah Lee, Han-Jong Lee, Eun-Ju Lee
{"title":"More than an Anxiety Machine: How Nostalgic Social Media Use Promotes Positive Affect, Self-Regard, and Meaning in Life.","authors":"Jeong-Woo Jang, Jung Ah Lee, Han-Jong Lee, Eun-Ju Lee","doi":"10.1177/21522715261431527","DOIUrl":"10.1177/21522715261431527","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Two web-based experiments were conducted during (Study 1, <i>N</i> = 451) and after the COVID-19 pandemic (Study 2, <i>N</i> = 431) to investigate (a) if revisiting nostalgic social media posts yields psychological benefits by mentally transporting people to meaningful past moments and (b) whether such effects depend on how strongly one feels connected to their past self (i.e., self-continuity). Participants were asked to browse through their own social media posts that captured either a memorable life event (nostalgic condition) or a mundane, daily event (ordinary condition). In Study 1, engaging with nostalgic (vs. ordinary) posts facilitated mental transportation, which enhanced positive affect, self-regard, and meaning in life, but such effects emerged only for those with lower levels of self-continuity. Those high in self-continuity exhibited consistently high levels of mental transportation, regardless of the type of posts. Study 2 largely replicated Study 1 findings, except that (a) nostalgic posts facilitated mental transportation across all levels of self-continuity, and (b) psychological benefits of nostalgic social media use were not observed for self-regard. Results are discussed as to how reliving the past on social media platforms may improve individuals' subjective well-being and how macro-level stressors such as COVID-19 may moderate such effects.</p>","PeriodicalId":10872,"journal":{"name":"Cyberpsychology, behavior and social networking","volume":" ","pages":"239-245"},"PeriodicalIF":4.0,"publicationDate":"2026-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147510264","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Emma Bishop, Annika Setterington, Silvia Marin-Dragu, Jennifer L McArthur, Marcus Cormier, Simal Dolek, Sherry H Stewart, Julie Blais, Natalie O Rosen, Jill Chorney, Sandra M Meier
{"title":"A Longitudinal Mediation Study of Sexting Motivations and Outcomes in Sexual Minority and Sexual Majority Emerging Adults.","authors":"Emma Bishop, Annika Setterington, Silvia Marin-Dragu, Jennifer L McArthur, Marcus Cormier, Simal Dolek, Sherry H Stewart, Julie Blais, Natalie O Rosen, Jill Chorney, Sandra M Meier","doi":"10.1177/21522715261432002","DOIUrl":"10.1177/21522715261432002","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Sexting-defined as the exchange of sexually suggestive messages via smartphones or other digital devices-has become a common behavior among emerging adults aged 18-29. This trend is particularly prominent among gender and sexual minorities, for whom sexting is often viewed as a normative and socially accepted form of expression. However, these populations also appear to face disproportionate mental health challenges associated with sexting. In a longitudinal online survey, 415 emerging adults (223 women, 171 men, 21 gender-diverse individuals) reported on their sexting behaviors, sexting motivations (autonomous versus controlled), and mental health outcomes across two time points, 6 weeks apart. Structural equation modeling revealed that gender and sexual minorities experienced significantly higher levels of internalizing (β = 0.60, 95 percent CI [0.23-0.97], <i>p</i> = 0.001) and externalizing symptoms (β = 0.69, 95 percent CI [0.29-1.08], <i>p</i> = 0.001) when engaging in sexually suggestive communication, compared to their majority peers. Furthermore, while sexting for autonomous reasons was linked to fewer internalizing symptoms among sexual majority youth (β = 0.12, 95 percent CI [0.03-0.22], <i>p</i> = 0.01), this protective effect did not extend to gender and sexual minorities. Therefore, sexting may carry different implications for gender and sexual minority youth compared to their majority peers, highlighting the need for tailored intervention strategies that account for these distinct experiences.</p>","PeriodicalId":10872,"journal":{"name":"Cyberpsychology, behavior and social networking","volume":" ","pages":"230-238"},"PeriodicalIF":4.0,"publicationDate":"2026-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147510210","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Between Care and Code: AI Companions in the Lives of Older Adults.","authors":"Brenda K Wiederhold","doi":"10.1177/21522715261423798","DOIUrl":"10.1177/21522715261423798","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":10872,"journal":{"name":"Cyberpsychology, behavior and social networking","volume":" ","pages":"206-208"},"PeriodicalIF":3.9,"publicationDate":"2026-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147316825","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Stefania La Rocca, Federico Longoni, Lorenzo Reina, Giuseppe Riva
{"title":"GRAIT-Growth Readiness in Artificial Intelligence Technologies: Quantifying the Comfort-Growth Paradox.","authors":"Stefania La Rocca, Federico Longoni, Lorenzo Reina, Giuseppe Riva","doi":"10.1177/21522715261428289","DOIUrl":"10.1177/21522715261428289","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":10872,"journal":{"name":"Cyberpsychology, behavior and social networking","volume":" ","pages":"267-269"},"PeriodicalIF":3.9,"publicationDate":"2026-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147324959","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Aya Korkomaz, Sophia Jamal, Mariam Hakim, Nadine Zeeni
{"title":"Social Media Use and Body Checking Behaviors: The Roles of Stress, Emotional Eating, and Self-Esteem.","authors":"Aya Korkomaz, Sophia Jamal, Mariam Hakim, Nadine Zeeni","doi":"10.1177/21522715261430510","DOIUrl":"10.1177/21522715261430510","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Social media (SM) use has been associated with increased body image dissatisfaction and body checking behaviors. Repetitive exposure to idealized images and interaction with appearance-related content may be the cause of this relationship. The present study used a cross-sectional survey to examine the associations between body checking behaviors and SM use, emotional eating, perceived stress, and self-esteem among adults (<i>n</i> = 423; aged 18-50 years, 71.9 percent female). Results showed that the number of online friends/followers, emotional eating, perceived stress, and general SM use significantly correlated with higher body checking scores. Conversely, self-esteem was negatively correlated with these scores. In multivariate regression analyses, perceived stress (B = 0.94, <i>p</i> < 0.001), emotional eating (B = 0.60, <i>p</i> < 0.001), general SM use (B = 0.18, <i>p</i> = 0.002), and lower educational level (B = -2.17, <i>p</i> = 0.011) independently predicted higher body checking scores, explaining 31.7 percent of the variance. These findings indicate that interventions focusing on media literacy and the management of stress and emotional eating may help mitigate the adverse effects of SM on body image and body-checking behaviors.</p>","PeriodicalId":10872,"journal":{"name":"Cyberpsychology, behavior and social networking","volume":"29 4","pages":"255-259"},"PeriodicalIF":4.0,"publicationDate":"2026-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147765185","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The Relationship Between Adolescent Experiential Avoidance and Smartphone Addiction: A Study Based on Latent Transition Analysis and Cross-Lagged Panel Network Analysis.","authors":"Xiaoxiao Song, Xiaoyan Wang, Xindi Wang, Xu Zhang, Quanwei Zheng, Xiujun Zhang, Shaobo Lyu","doi":"10.1177/21522715261441401","DOIUrl":"10.1177/21522715261441401","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>With the widespread use of smartphones among adolescents, smartphone addiction has become a growing mental health concern. Adolescents' limited self-regulation makes them particularly vulnerable to using smartphones to escape real-life stress, heightening addiction risk. However, the heterogeneity of addictive behaviors and the dynamic role of experiential avoidance have been underexplored. This 6-month longitudinal study surveyed 547 Chinese primary and secondary students using the Smartphone Addiction Scale (SAS) and the Acceptance and Action Questionnaire-II (AAQ-II). Latent profile analysis (LPA) and latent transition analysis (LTA) were applied to identify subgroups and examine transitions between these subgroups. Cross-lagged panel network analysis (CLPN) revealed key symptom interactions between experiential avoidance and addiction. The study identified two addiction subgroups: a stable \"low-risk group\" (84.9 percent) and a \"high-risk group,\" 51.4 percent of whom transitioned to low risk over time. Logistic regression showed that experiential avoidance significantly predicted high-risk membership (odds ratios [OR] = 1.083-1.102) and deterioration within the low-risk group (OR = 1.036). The CLPN identified \"online intimacy\" (SPA-3) and \"hesitation and overcautious\" (EA-7) as driver nodes, with \"withdrawal symptoms\" (SPA-2) serving as a central node. These findings emphasize the crucial role of experiential avoidance in adolescent smartphone addiction and suggest symptom-level targets for early intervention. The results support acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) as a promising approach for reducing smartphone addiction among youth.</p>","PeriodicalId":10872,"journal":{"name":"Cyberpsychology, behavior and social networking","volume":" ","pages":"309-317"},"PeriodicalIF":4.0,"publicationDate":"2026-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147716358","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Online Gambling, Young Men, and a Growing Public Health Concern.","authors":"Brenda K Wiederhold","doi":"10.1177/21522715261446729","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/21522715261446729","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":10872,"journal":{"name":"Cyberpsychology, behavior and social networking","volume":"150 1","pages":"21522715261446729"},"PeriodicalIF":6.6,"publicationDate":"2026-04-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147743984","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The FoMO-JoMO Paradox in Digital Parenting: What Drives Oversharenting?","authors":"Tali Gazit,Fatih Bayraktar","doi":"10.1177/21522715261443070","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/21522715261443070","url":null,"abstract":"Sharenting, the practice of parents sharing images and information about their children on social media, has become a widely debated digital parenting behavior. While some scholars emphasize its benefits, such as social support and affirmation of parenting practices, others highlight risks to children's privacy and rights. Building on recent distinctions between oversharenting and controlled sharenting, this study explores the psychological mechanisms that may underlie these practices. Specifically, we focus on the role of fear of missing out (FoMO), joy of missing out (JoMO), and social comparison as predictors of parental sharing styles. An online survey was distributed among parents, with 299 participants completing the questionnaire. The measures included validated scales of FoMO, JoMO, social comparison, and the Sharenting Evaluation Scale. Structural equation modeling was conducted to examine the proposed mediation models linking FoMO, JoMO, and social comparison with oversharenting and controlled sharenting. The findings indicated that FoMO and JoMO were significantly associated with oversharenting, with social comparison emerging as a mediating factor. In contrast, none of the predictors were significantly related to controlled sharenting, suggesting that different psychological processes may explain more deliberate forms of parental sharing. This study extends the application of social comparison theory to the domain of digital parenting and highlights FoMO and JoMO as important drivers of oversharenting. The results contribute to a deeper understanding of sharenting as a complex practice shaped not only by social norms and digital affordances, but also by parents' psychological experiences of connection and disconnection.","PeriodicalId":10872,"journal":{"name":"Cyberpsychology, behavior and social networking","volume":"29 1","pages":"21522715261443070"},"PeriodicalIF":6.6,"publicationDate":"2026-04-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147734006","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Effects of Cyberbullying Victimization on Non-Suicidal Self-Injury in Adolescents with Depressive Disorders: A Chain Mediation Model of Alexithymia and Anxiety.","authors":"Jia Chen,Min Hu,Shaojiong Zhou,Wei Luo,Yu Xiao,Li Liu,Jia Fang,Qing Zheng,Na Du,Yue Yu","doi":"10.1177/21522715261443746","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/21522715261443746","url":null,"abstract":"Adolescents with depressive disorders exhibit higher rates of cyberbullying victimization (CBV) and non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) compared with their healthy peers; however, the association between CBV and NSSI and its underlying psychosocial mechanisms remain unclear. This study investigated the effect of CBV on NSSI in adolescents with depressive disorders and examined the mediating roles of alexithymia and anxiety. A total of 1,032 adolescents with depressive disorders, aged 12 to 18 years (mean age = 15.01 ± 1.62), completed questionnaires. Pearson correlation analyses and structural equation modeling were conducted. Significant correlations were observed among CBV, alexithymia, anxiety, and NSSI (all p < 0.001). A significant total indirect effect was identified in the association between CBV and NSSI (β = 0.045, p < 0.001), accounting for 35.2 percent of the total effect. Anxiety functioned as an independent mediator (β = 0.039, p < 0.001), whereas alexithymia alone did not show a significant indirect effect. Moreover, a significant chain-mediated effect of alexithymia and anxiety was observed (β = 0.003, p = 0.023). These findings revealed that CBV may exacerbate NSSI among adolescents with depressive disorders, with anxiety functioning as an independent mediator. Alexithymia may intensify anxiety symptoms, which further contribute to NSSI. Anti-bullying education and interventions targeting alexithymia and anxiety should be implemented to reduce the risk of NSSI in this population.","PeriodicalId":10872,"journal":{"name":"Cyberpsychology, behavior and social networking","volume":"140 1","pages":"21522715261443746"},"PeriodicalIF":6.6,"publicationDate":"2026-04-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147726118","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Does Vibe Coding Pass the Vibe Check? The Therapeutic Potential of Agentic Artificial Intelligence.","authors":"Brenda K Wiederhold","doi":"10.1177/21522715261443745","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/21522715261443745","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":10872,"journal":{"name":"Cyberpsychology, behavior and social networking","volume":"15 1","pages":"21522715261443745"},"PeriodicalIF":6.6,"publicationDate":"2026-04-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147719628","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}