The relationship between active and passive Facebook use, Facebook flow, depression symptoms and Facebook Addiction: A three-month investigation

Use of the social networking site (SNS) Facebook often serves as a possibility to escape from daily stress, improve mood, and find relief. Previous research described two forms of Facebook use: passive and active use. Passive use indicates the monitoring of activities of other Facebook members without engaging in direct interaction with them and without the presence of one's information (for example, browsing the news feed, viewing pictures, and status updates posted by others). Active use is targeted at direct social interaction with other Facebook members and the presentation of one's information via writing private messages, setting “Likes”, and posting written status updates, pictures, and public comments.

In the longer-term, passive Facebook use can lead to upward social comparisons that result in feelings of envy and dissatisfaction because other members are judged to be happier than themselves. In contrast, active Facebook use can contribute to the experience of social support and positive emotions. Furthermore, active Facebook use is positively linked to the experience of “flow”  – an intensive form of enjoyment and happiness linked to total involvement in the task performed. The experience of “flow” can contribute to further intensive intrusion into the Facebook world.

However, the intensity of Facebook use and Facebook “flow” were assumed to foster the development of an emotional bond to the platform that is linked to an addictive need to stay permanently online. This phenomenon has been termed Facebook Addiction (FA) and was assessed as behavioral addiction defined by six core characteristics/symptoms of behavioral addiction that are salience (permanent thinking of the behavior of concern), tolerance (enhanced amount of time on the behavior of concern is required to achieve former effects), mood modification (intensive engagement in the behavior of concern for mood improvement), relapse (reverting to earlier behavioral pattern after ineffective attempts to reduce the behavior of concern), withdrawal symptoms (psychological and/or physiological uneasiness without the behavior of concern), and conflict (interpersonal problems caused by intensive engagement in the behavior of concern). All characteristics should be present to define a behavioral addiction. This issue differs from a behavioral addiction to a very intensive or excessive behavior that might have addictive elements but is not an addiction. Based on the concept of behavioral addictions Griffiths defined FA by six typical characteristics (i.e., salience, tolerance, mood modification, relapse, withdrawal symptoms, and conflict). Notably, FA is not recognized as a formal psychiatric disorder in the diagnostic and statistical annual of mental disorders or the ScienceDirect's AI-generated Topic Pages" class="topic-link" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-thickness: 1px; text-decoration-color: rgb(46, 46, 46); color: rgb(46, 46, 46); word-break: break-word; text-underline-offset: 1px;">international classification of diseases. Moreover, the existence of behavioral addictions – especially those linked to online activity – is a critically discussed topic. Some researchers emphasized that intensive online activity should not be over-pathologized. However, it is important to consider that FA is positively associated with daily stress and anxiety symptoms. A longitudinal study reported its positive relationship with insomnia up to six weeks later.

Persons with increased depression symptoms were assumed to be at enhanced risk for high levels of FA. They often use intensive Facebook to improve their mood and forget their overwhelming problems offline. However, this can, on the one hand, contribute to an emotional bond to the SNS that might result in the development of addictive symptoms. On the other hand, intensive online activity can contribute to further interpersonal conflicts at home and work due to the negligence of obligations that might evoke stress symptoms and result in further escape into the online world as a dysfunctional coping strategy.

 emphasized that addiction always results from a complex interplay of various individual and environmental factors and mechanisms. Against this background and considering the high popularity of Facebook that currently has more than 1.91 billion daily users and the negative association of FA with well-being, it is highly desirable to understand the mechanisms that can underly its development. Therefore, the present study aimed to extend the available knowledge on potential predictors of FA that is mostly based on cross-sectional results by longitudinal findings (i.e., two measurement time points (T1 and T2) with a time interval of three months). Based on previous results, we expected FA (T2) to be positively linked to Facebook flow (T1) (Hypothesis 1a) and depression symptoms (T1) (Hypothesis 1b). Active Facebook use is typically accompanied by positive feedback that fosters further Facebook consumption and thus might increase one's vulnerability for FA. Therefore, we assumed active Facebook use (T1) to be positively related to FA (T2) (Hypothesis 1c). reported active disclosure of personal information on Facebook to be positively linked to Facebook flow.  Brailovskaia et al. (2018) assumed Facebook flow to be an antecedent of FA in a cross-sectional study assumed Facebook flow was an antecedent of FA. Thus, we hypothesized that Facebook flow (T1) positively mediates the association between active Facebook use (T1) and FA (T2) (Hypothesis 2).

So far, only a little research investigated the association between passive Facebook use and FA. Available studies revealed inconsistent findings. While some research reported a positive relationship between passive Facebook use and FA, there was no significant link between both variables in another investigation. Thus, on the one hand, it could be speculated that observation of for example amusing photos uploaded by other users contributes to mood enhancement that leads to further Facebook consumption and the development of FA. On the other hand, previous research reported passive observation of others’ activities on Facebook to evoke feelings of envy and dissatisfaction. The negative experiences might reduce Facebook use intensity which could explain the non-significant association between passive use and FA. Considering that both scenarios are possible and to avoid speculations, two research questions were formulated:

How is passive Facebook use (T1) related to FA (T2)? (Research Question 1)

Does Facebook flow (T1) mediate the relationship between passive Facebook use (T1) and FA (T2)? (Research Question 2)

 Methods:

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