RUB » Bibliotheksportal

Julia Brailovskaia, Inga Truskauskaite-Kuneviciene, Evaldas Kazlauskas, Jürgen Margraf

• The present study investigated problematic social media use (SMU) in Lithuania and in Germany. In two student samples (Lithuania: \(\it N\) = 1640; Germany: \(\it N\) = 727), problematic SMU, flow experienced during SMU, life satisfaction, depression, anxiety and stress symptoms were assessed by online surveys. Latent Class Analysis resulted in a four-group classification of participants due to their levels of problematic SMU characteristics: \(\textit {low-symptom, low-withdrawal, high-withdrawal,}\) and \(\textit {high-symptom}\). The proportion of participants in the \(\textit {low-symptom}\) group was significantly higher in Germany than in Lithuania. In contrast, significantly more Lithuanian participants belonged to both \(\it withdrawal\) groups. No significant country differences were found for the composition of the \(\textit {high-symptom}\) group. In both countries, a series of Structural Equation Models showed that the level of flow, depression, anxiety and stress symptoms was the highest in the \(\textit {high-symptom}\) group, and the lowest in the \(\textit {low-symptom}\) group. Life satisfaction revealed the reversed result pattern. The current findings show that students from Lithuania and Germany can be grouped considering their problematic SMU level. Individuals in the four groups differ due to their level of mental health. Especially members of the \(\textit {high-symptom}\) group might benefit from external controlling strategies of their time spent on SM, while members of the \(\it withdrawal\) groups are suggested to train their SMU self-control.