SavedAdd your journal

Journals / Batı Anadolu Eğitim Bilimleri Dergisi / 2026 / Cilt: 16 Sayı: 2

The Mediating Role of Phubbing in the Association between Social Media Addiction and Subjective Vitality among University Students

Üniversite Öğrencilerinde Sosyal Medya Bağımlılığı ile Öznel Zindelik Arasındaki İlişkide Phubbing'in Aracılık Rolü

Ömer Faruk Akbulut(Afyonkarahisar Sağlık Bilimleri Üniversitesi)0000-0001-5152-8102
Muhammed Akat(KARAMANOĞLU MEHMETBEY ÜNİVERSİTESİ)0000-0002-8543-8022
Sinan Okur(MİLLİ SAVUNMA ÜNİVERSİTESİ, HAVA HARP OKULU)0000-0002-3439-5907
Pages
2164–2181
Publication Date
2025-08-28
🏛️Bibliographic metadata and full text access for this article are provided via DergiPark.
DergiPark Record ↗
✨

AI Summary & Key Takeaways

AI Insight
⚡ TL;DR(Too Long; Didn't Read)

Conditional process analysis findings revealed that phubbing played a partial mediating role in the relationship between social media addiction and subjective vitality.

📌 3 Key Takeaways

🎯
Objective & Hypothesis:This study aimed to examine the mediating role of phubbing in the relationship between social media addiction and subjective vitality of university students.
📊
Key Findings & Data:The participants of the study were 352 university students, 227 female and 125 male, aged between 18 and 55 (Mage = 23.608, SD = 6.561).
💡
Conclusion & Impact:Conditional process analysis findings revealed that phubbing played a partial mediating role in the relationship between social media addiction and subjective vitality.
🔬Design:Araştırma Makalesi
📍Scope:Comprehensive Sample
⚙️Variables:Sosyal medya bağımlılığı · Öznel zindelik · Phubbing

Abstract

This study aimed to examine the mediating role of phubbing in the relationship between social media addiction and subjective vitality of university students. The participants of the study were 352 university students, 227 female and 125 male, aged between 18 and 55 (Mage = 23.608, SD = 6.561). In the study, conditional process analysis was performed using the SPSS PROCESS macro add-in and the research hypotheses were tested. Additionally, the bootstrapping method was used for the statistical significance of the mediator variable. When the correlation findings of the study were examined, it was determined that subjective vitality was negatively correlated with both social media addiction and phubbing. Additionally, a significant positive relationship was found between social media addiction and phubbing. Conditional process analysis findings revealed that phubbing played a partial mediating role in the relationship between social media addiction and subjective vitality. The results obtained from the bootstrapping method also indicated that this mediation was statistically significant. All findings obtained within the scope of the research were discussed and interpreted in light of the literature, and recommendations were presented to both mental health practitioners and researchers.

Özet

Bu çalışma, sosyal medya bağımlılığı ile üniversite öğrencilerinin öznel zindelik arasındaki ilişkide phubbing’in aracılık rolünü incelemeyi amaçlamıştır. Çalışmanın katılımcılarını, yaşları 18 ile 55 arasında değişen (Yaş ortalaması = 23.608, SS = 6.561) 227 kadın ve 125 erkek olmak üzere toplam 352 üniversite öğrencisi oluşturmuştur. Araştırmada, SPSS PROCESS makro eklentisi kullanılarak koşullu süreç analizi gerçekleştirilmiş ve araştırma hipotezleri test edilmiştir. Ayrıca, aracı değişkenin istatistiksel anlamlılığı için bootstrapping yöntemi kullanılmıştır. Çalışmanın korelasyon bulguları incelendiğinde, öznel zindelik ile hem sosyal medya bağımlılığı hem de phubbing arasında negatif bir ilişki olduğu belirlenmiştir. Bunun yanı sıra, sosyal medya bağımlılığı ile phubbing arasında anlamlı bir pozitif ilişki bulunmuştur. Koşullu süreç analizi bulguları, sosyal medya bağımlılığı ile öznel zindelik arasındaki ilişkide phubbing’in kısmi aracılık rolü oynadığını ortaya koymuştur. Bootstrapping yöntemiyle elde edilen sonuçlar da bu aracılığın istatistiksel olarak anlamlı olduğunu göstermiştir. Araştırma kapsamında elde edilen tüm bulgular, literatür ışığında tartışılmış ve hem ruh sağlığı uzmanlarına hem de araştırmacılara yönelik öneriler sunulmuştur.

🔖

Cite This Article

Akbulut, Ö. F., Akat, M., Okur, S. (2025). The Mediating Role of Phubbing in the Association between Social Media Addiction and Subjective Vitality among University Students. Batı Anadolu Eğitim Bilimleri Dergisi, Cilt: 16 Sayı: 2, 2164–2181. https://doi.org/10.51460/baebd.1591221

📄 Full Text PDF Viewer

📄

PDF görüntüleyici hazırlanıyor...

References (64)

  1. Al-Saggaf, Y., MacCulloch, R., & Wiener, K. (2019). Trait boredom ıs a predictor of phubbing frequency. Journal of Technology in Behavioral Science, 4(3), 245-252. https://doi.org/10.1007/s41347-018-0080-4
  2. Andreassen, C. S. (2015). Online social network site addiction: A comprehensive review. Current Addiction Reports, 2(2), 175-184. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40429-015-0056-9
  3. Andreassen, C. S., Billieux, J., Griffiths, M. D., Kuss, D. J., Demetrovics, Z., Mazzoni, E., & Pallesen, S. (2016). The relationship between addictive use of social media and video games and symptoms of psychiatric disorders: A large-scale cross-sectional study. Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, 30(2), 252-262. https://doi.org/10.1037/adb0000160
  4. Andreassen, C. S., & Pallesen, S. (2014). Social network site addiction - an overview. Current PHharmaceutical Design, 20(25), 4053-4061. https://doi.org/10.2174/13816128113199990616
  5. Ayyıldız, F., & Şahin, G. (2022). Effect of social media addiction on eating behavior, body weight and life satisfaction during pandemic period. British Food Journal, 124(9), 2980-2992. https://doi.org/10.1108/BFJ-01-2022-0018
  6. Baltacı, Ö. (2019). The predictive relationships between the social media addiction and social anxiety, loneliness, and happiness. International Journal of Progressive Education, 15(4), 73-82.
  7. Baltacı, Ö., Akbulut, Ö. F., & Yılmaz, E. (2021). A current risk factor in problematic internet use: The COVID-19 pandemic. Humanistic Perspective, 3(1), 97-121. https://doi.org/10.47793/hp.872503
  8. Barbed-Castrejón, N., Navaridas-Nalda, F., Mason, O., & Ortuño-Sierra, J. (2024). Prevalence of phubbing behaviour in school and university students in Spain. Frontiers in Psychology, 15, 1396863. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1396863
  9. Benyamini, Y., Idler, E. L., Leventhal, H., & Leventhal, E. A. (2000). Positive affect and function as influences on self-assessments of health: Expanding our view beyond illness and disability. The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, 55(2), 107-116. https://doi.org/10.1093/geronb/55.2.P107
  10. Bitar, Z., Akel, M., Salameh, P., Obeid, S., & Hallit, S. (2023). Phubbing among Lebanese young adults: Scale validation and association with mental health (depression, anxiety, and stress). Current Psychology, 42(23), 19709-19720. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-022-03104-z
  11. Błachnio, A., & Przepiorka, A. (2018). Be aware! If you start using Facebook problematically you will feel lonely: Phubbing, loneliness, self-esteem, and Facebook intrusion. A cross-sectional study. Social Science Computer Review, 37(2), 270-278. https://doi.org/10.1177/0894439318754490
  12. Błachnio, A., Przepiorka, A., & Pantic, I. (2016). Association between Facebook addiction, self-esteem and life satisfaction: A cross-sectional study. Computers in Human Behavior, 55, 701-705. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2015.10.026
  13. Buchner, L., Amesberger, G., Finkenzeller, T., Moore, S. R., & Würth, S. (2022). The modified German Subjective Vitality Scale (SVS-GM): Psychometric properties and application in daily life. Frontiers in Psychology, 13, 948906. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.948906 Capilla Garrido, E., Issa, T., Gutiérrez Esteban, P., & Cubo Delgado, S. (2021). A descriptive literature review of phubbing behaviors. Heliyon, 7(5), e07037. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2021.e07037
  14. Chotpitayasunondh, V., & Douglas, K. M. (2018). Measuring phone snubbing behavior: Development and validation of the Generic Scale of Phubbing (GSP) and the Generic Scale of Being Phubbed (GSBP). Computers in Human Behavior, 88, 5-17. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2018.06.020
  15. Cunningham, S., Hudson, C. C., & Harkness, K. (2021). Social media and depression symptoms: A meta-analysis. Research on Child and Adolescent Psychopathology, 49(2), 241-253. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10802-020-00715-7
  16. Çakmak, S., & Tanrıöver, Ö. (2024). Is obesity and body perception disturbance related to social media addiction among university students? Journal of American College Health, 72(1), 302-309. https://doi.org/10.1080/07448481.2022.2034832
  17. Çiftci, N., & Yıldız, M. (2023). The relationship between social media addiction, happiness, and life satisfaction in adults: Analysis with machine learning approach. International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction, 21(5), 3500-3516. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11469-023-01118-7
  18. Çolak, R. (2022). Investigation of higher education institutions’ social media uses in the context of public relations: The example of Twitter. Journal of Social and Educational Research, 1(1), 35-42. Retrieved from https://www.journalser.com/jser/article/view/13
  19. Davey, S., Davey, A., Raghav, S. K., Singh, J. V, Singh, N., Blachnio, A., & Przepiórkaa, A. (2018). Predictors and consequences of “Phubbing” among adolescents and youth in India: An impact evaluation study. Journal of Family & Community Medicine, 25(1), 35-42. https://doi.org/10.4103/jfcm.JFCM_71_17
  20. David, M. E., & Roberts, J. A. (2017). Phubbed and alone: Phone snubbing, social exclusion, and attachment to social media. Journal of the Association for Consumer Research, 2(2), 155-163. https://doi.org/10.1086/690940
  21. Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (2000). The “What” and “Why” of goal pursuits: Human needs and the self-determination of behavior. Psychological Inquiry, 11(4), 227-268. https://doi.org/10.1207/S15327965PLI1104_01
  22. Ellison, N. B., Steinfield, C., & Lampe, C. (2011). Connection strategies: Social capital implications of Facebook-enabled communication practices. New Media & Society, 13(6), 873-892. https://doi.org/10.1177/1461444810385389
  23. Eroğlu, Y., Cengiz, S., Peker, A., & Yıldız, M. N. (2023). The relationship between happiness and social media addiction: Coping with perceived stress as a mediator. Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, 13(3), 146-152. https://doi.org/10.5455/PBS.20221229055938
  24. Erzen, E., Odacı, H., & Yeniçeri, İ. (2019). Phubbing: Which personality traits are prone to phubbing? Social Science Computer Review, 39(1), 56-69. https://doi.org/10.1177/0894439319847415
  25. Guazzini, A., Raimondi, T., Biagini, B., Bagnoli, F., & Duradoni, M. (2021). Phubber’s emotional activations: The association between PANAS and phubbing behavior. Future Internet, 13(12), 311. https://doi.org/10.3390/fi13120311
  26. Haand, R., & Shuwang, Z. (2020). The relationship between social media addiction and depression: A quantitative study among university students in Khost, Afghanistan. International Journal of Adolescence and Youth, 25(1), 780-786. https://doi.org/10.1080/02673843.2020.1741407
  27. Hamarta, E., Baltacı, Ö., Akbulut, Ö. F., & Akat, M. (2023). The relationship between problematic technology use and mental health problems in the COVID-19 pandemic: A meta-analysis. Journal of Teacher Education and Lifelong Learning, 5(1), 374-385. https://doi.org/10.51535/tell.1283101
  28. Ivanova, A., Gorbaniuk, O., Błachnio, A., Przepiórka, A., Mraka, N., Polishchuk, V., & Gorbaniuk, J. (2020). Mobile phone addiction, phubbing, and depression among men and women: A moderated mediation analysis. Psychiatric Quarterly, 91(3), 655-668. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11126-020-09723-8
  29. Jia, J., Li, D., Li, X., Zhou, Y., Wang, Y., Sun, W., & Zhao, L. (2018). Peer victimization and adolescent internet addiction: The mediating role of psychological security and the moderating role of teacher-student relationships. Computers in Human Behavior, 85, 116-124. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2018.03.042
  30. Joshi, M. (2024). Is phubbing due to social media impacting my well-being–demystifying the FOMO, CSMU, phubbing loop among school and university cohorts. Kybernetes, 53(11), 4217-4234. https://doi.org/10.1108/K-03-2023-0456
  31. Kadylak, T. (2019). An investigation of perceived family phubbing expectancy violations and well-being among U.S. older adults. Mobile Media & Communication, 8(2), 247-267. https://doi.org/10.1177/2050157919872238
  32. Karadağ, E., Tosuntaş, Ş. B., Erzen, E., Duru, P., Bostan, N., Mızrak Şahin, B., Çulha, İ., & Babadağ, B. (2016). The virtual world's current addiction: Phubbing. Addicta: The Turkish Journal on Addictions, 3(2), 250–269. http://dx.doi.org/10.15805/addicta.2016.3.0013
  33. Karadağ, E., Tosuntaş, Ş. B., Erzen, E., Duru, P., Bostan, N., Şahin, B. M., Çulha, İ., & Babadağ, B. (2015). Determinants of phubbing, which is the sum of many virtual addictions: A structural equation model. Journal of Behavioral Addictions, 4(2), 60-74. https://doi.org/10.1556/2006.4.2015.005
  34. Kayiş, A. R., Satıcı, B., Deniz, M. E., Satıcı, S. A., & Griffiths, M. D. (2022). Fear of COVID-19, loneliness, smartphone addiction, and mental wellbeing among the Turkish general population: A serial mediation model. Behaviour & Information Technology, 41(11), 2484-2496. https://doi.org/10.1080/0144929X.2021.1933181
  35. Kuss, D., & Griffiths, M. (2017). Social networking sites and addiction: Ten lessons learned. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 14, Article 311. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph14030311
  36. Kütük, H., Satıcı, S. A., Ümmet, D., & Okur, S. (2024). Childhood psychological maltreatment and subjective vitality: Longitudinal mediating effect of cognitive flexibility. Applied Research in Quality of Life, 19, 1951-1965. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11482-024-10315-y
  37. Landa-Blanco, M., García, Y. R., Landa-Blanco, A. L., Cortés-Ramos, A., & Paz-Maldonado, E. (2024). Social media addiction relationship with academic engagement in university students: The mediator role of self-esteem, depression, and anxiety. Heliyon, 10(2), e24384. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e24384
  38. Lavrusheva, O. (2020). The concept of vitality. Review of the vitality-related research domain. New Ideas in Psychology, 56, 100752. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.newideapsych.2019.100752
  39. Li, B., Wang, P., Xie, X., Chen, Y., Wang, W., Liu, C., Zhao, M., Zhu, M., & Mao, N. (2022). Father phubbing and adolescents’ depressive symptoms: Perceived father acceptance as a mediator and resilience as a moderator. The Journal of Psychology, 156(5), 349-366. https://doi.org/10.1080/00223980.2022.2044745
  40. McDaniel, B. T., & Coyne, S. M. (2016). “Technoference”: The interference of technology in couple relationships and implications for women’s personal and relational well-being. Psychology of Popular Media Culture, 5(1), 85-98. https://doi.org/10.1037/ppm0000065
  41. Narin Aral, S., & Kecelioglu, S. (2023). Musculoskeletal problems, attitudes and behaviors related to physical activity, and social media addiction in musicians during the COVID-19 pandemic. Work, 75(2), 375-381. https://doi.org/10.3233/WOR-220479
  42. Nikel, Ł., Kolańska-Stronka, M., & Krasa, P. (2025). Personality traits, internet addiction, and phubbing among teens: A mediation analysis. Behaviour & Information Technology, 44(3), 1-14. https://doi.org/10.1080/0144929X.2024.2323096
  43. Okur, S., Acar Bulut, Ö., & Erden Çınar, S. (2022). The mediating role of social media usage habits in the relationship between FoMO and nomophobia. Journal of Theoretical Educational Science, 15(1), 126-145. https://doi.org/10.30831/akukeg.929847
  44. Patel, R., Chang, T., Greysen, S. R., & Chopra, V. (2015). Social media use in chronic disease: A systematic review and novel taxonomy. The American Journal of Medicine, 128(12), 1335-1350. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amjmed.2015.06.015
  45. Pellegrino, A., Stasi, A., & Bhatiasevi, V. (2022). Research trends in social media addiction and problematic social media use: A bibliometric analysis. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 13, 1017506. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2022.1017506
  46. Ponnusamy, S., Iranmanesh, M., Foroughi, B., & Hyun, S. S. (2020). Drivers and outcomes of Instagram addiction: Psychological well-being as moderator. Computers in Human Behavior, 107, 106294. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2020.106294
  47. Primack, B. A., & Escobar-Viera, C. G. (2017). Social media as it interfaces with psychosocial development and mental illness in transitional age youth. Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Clinics of North America, 26(2), 217-233. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chc.2016.12.007
  48. Ryan, R. M., & Frederick, C. (1997). On energy, personality, and health: Subjective vitality as a dynamic reflection of well-being. Journal of Personality, 65(3), 529-565. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-6494.1997.tb00326.x
  49. Salari, N., Zarei, H., Hosseinian-Far, A., Rasoulpoor, S., Shohaimi, S., & Mohammadi, M. (2025). The global prevalence of social media addiction among university students: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Journal of Public Health, 33, 223-236. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10389-023-02012-1
  50. Satıcı, B., Kayiş, A. R., & Griffiths, M. D. (2023). Exploring the association between social media addiction and relationship satisfaction: Psychological distress as a mediator. International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction, 21(4), 2037-2051. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11469-021-00658-0
  51. Shin, M., Juventin, M., Wai Chu, J. T., Manor, Y., & Kemps, E. (2022). Online media consumption and depression in young people: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Computers in Human Behavior, 128, 107129. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2021.107129
  52. Sun, J., & Samp, J. A. (2022). ‘Phubbing is happening to you’: Examining predictors and effects of phubbing behaviour in friendships. Behaviour & Information Technology, 41(12), 2691-2704. https://doi.org/10.1080/0144929X.2021.1943711
  53. Sun, Y., & Zhang, Y. (2021). A review of theories and models applied in studies of social media addiction and implications for future research. Addictive Behaviors, 114, 106699. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.addbeh.2020.106699
  54. Tülübaş, T., Karakose, T., & Papadakis, S. (2023). A holistic investigation of the relationship between digital addiction and academic achievement among students. European Journal of Investigation in Health, Psychology and Education, 13, 2006-2034. https://doi.org/10.3390/ejihpe13100143
  55. Tung, S. E. H., Gan, W. Y., Chen, J. S., Ruckwongpatr, K., Pramukti, I., Nadhiroh, S. R., Chang, Y. L., Lin, C. C., Pakpour, A. H., Lin, C. Y., & Griffiths, M. D. (2022). Internet-related instruments (Bergen Social Media Addiction Scale, Smartphone Application-Based Addiction Scale, Internet Gaming Disorder Scale-Short Form, and Nomophobia Questionnaire) and their associations with distress among Malaysian university students. Healthcare, 10(8), 1448. https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare10081448
  56. van den Eijnden, R. J. J. M., Lemmens, J. S., & Valkenburg, P. M. (2016). The Social Media Disorder Scale. Computers in Human Behavior, 61, 478-487. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2016.03.038
  57. Vanden Abeele, M. M. P., Abels, M., & Hendrickson, A. T. (2020). Are parents less responsive to young children when they are on their phones? A systematic naturalistic observation study. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, 23(6), 363-370. https://doi.org/10.1089/cyber.2019.0472
  58. Verduyn, P., Ybarra, O., Résibois, M., Jonides, J., & Kross, E. (2017). Do social network sites enhance or undermine subjective well‐being? A critical review. Social Issues and Policy Review, 11(1), 274-302. https://doi.org/10.1111/sipr.12033
  59. Vogel, E. A., Rose, J. P., Roberts, L. R., & Eckles, K. (2014). Social comparison, social media, and self-esteem. Psychology of Popular Media Culture, 3(4), 206-222. https://doi.org/10.1037/ppm0000047
  60. Wang, X., Xie, X., Wang, Y., Wang, P., & Lei, L. (2017). Partner phubbing and depression among married Chinese adults: The roles of relationship satisfaction and relationship length. Personality and Individual Differences, 110, 12-17. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2017.01.014
  61. We Are Social. (2024). Digital 2024. Retrieved from https://wearesocial.com/uk/blog/2024/01/digital-2024/
  62. Yigiter, M. S., Demir, S., & Dogan, N. (2024). The relationship between problematic social media use and depression: A meta-analysis study. Current Psychology, 43(9), 7936-7951. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-023-04972-9
  63. Young, K. S., & De Abreu, C. N. (2011). Internet addiction: A handbook and guide to evaluation. John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
  64. Zhao, L. (2021). The impact of social media use types and social media addiction on subjective well-being of college students: A comparative analysis of addicted and non-addicted students. Computers in Human Behavior Reports, 4, 100122. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chbr.2021.100122