Anxious attachment and Facebook addiction: the mediating role of need to belong, self-esteem, and Facebook use to meet romantic partners

Although the beneficial aspects of web platforms such as Facebook are recognized, excessive social media use can lead to problematic or addictive behavior among a minority of users. Because anxious attachment has usually been analyzed in the relation to Internet addiction, social media addiction, and Facebook intensity use, the main aim of the present study was to investigate the relationship between anxious attachment and Facebook addiction. A multiple-mediation model was proposed including a four-path mediating effect via need to belong (NTB), self-esteem, and Facebook use to meet romantic partners. Data were collected from a sample of 530 university students (39.6% males, Mage = 21.3 years, SD = 2.1). Path analysis was performed based on the maximum likelihood estimation with resampling method. The direct and indirect effects in the four-path mediation model were tested by user-defined estimands and bias-corrected bootstrap method. The findings provided evidence for the association between anxious attachment, Facebook addiction, low self-esteem, high NTB, and Facebook use to meet romantic partners. Path analysis showed excellent fit between theoretical model and sample data. Anxious attachment had an indirect effect on Facebook addiction via high NTB, low self-esteem, and Facebook use to meet romantic partners. The novel findings deepen the understanding the mediating mechanisms of the relationship between anxious attachment and Facebook addiction and will help contribute to the development of effective prevention and treatment to enable more responsible and healthy Facebook use.