TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2022//
TI  - Social media addiction and fear of war in Germany
JO  - Psychiatry international (Basel)
A1  - Hajek, André
A1  - Kretzler, Benedikt
A1  - König, Hans-Helmut
SP  - 313
EP  - 319
VL  - 3
IS  - 4
N2  - Individuals with an excessive use of social media may be frequently exposed to stimuli, such as (fake) news or images of violence, which might lead to a higher fear of war. Therefore, the objective of this study is to examine the association between a social media addiction and fear of war (conventional war and nuclear war) in Germany. Data were taken from a nationally representative survey with n = 3091 participants (18 to 74 years; data collection in mid-March 2022). Social media addiction was quantified using the validated Bergen Social Media Addiction Scale. Moreover, established items were used to quantify a fear of war. Medium differences (in terms of Cohen's d) were identified regarding the fear of war between individuals without a social media addiction and individuals with a social media addiction. Adjusting for several covariates, the regressions revealed that individuals with a social media addiction had a higher fear of war compared to individuals without a social media addiction (fear of a conventional war: β = 0.44, p < 0.01; fear of a nuclear war: β = 0.61, p < 0.001). In conclusion, our study demonstrated an association between a social media addiction and fear of war.<p />  <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 2673-5318
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/psychiatryint3040025
ID  - ref1
ER  -