Beyond Screen Time: Psychological Mechanisms and Relational Consequences of Problematic Social Media and Internet Use in Young Adults

Most research on problematic social media and internet use focuses on exposure metrics, such as hours online, platform counts, and checking frequency. Exposure alone explains relatively little. What distinguishes use that becomes compulsive from healthy engagement lies in the psychological, relational, and emotional vulnerabilities of the user. Emerging evidence points to fear of missing out and its online-specific manifestation, fragile self-esteem, narcissistic vulnerability, emotional dysregulation, and attachment dynamics formed within family and peer systems.Young adults represent a group where these mechanisms are particularly salient yet under-researched. The current literature heavily emphasizes children and younger adolescents, leaving emerging adulthood (a period characterized by identity consolidation, academic pressures, and shifting intimate bonds) comparatively unexamined.This Research Topic addresses two core questions:1. Which psychological, emotional, and cognitive mechanisms drive problematic social media and internet use in young adults, and how do they interact?2. What are the specific consequences of this use for the relationships and functional domains central to this life stage, including romantic bonds, family ties, academic performance, and personal well-being?We welcome empirical, theoretical, and methodological contributions. Studies employing longitudinal designs, person-centered approaches, cross-cultural comparisons, or intervention models are especially encouraged. We also welcome psychometric contributions validating assessment instruments for FoMO, online FoMO, and digital behavioral addictions across different languages and cultural settings. Clinical, psychosocial, and psychodynamic perspectives that offer mechanistic depth to a field often dominated by cross-sectional correlations are highly welcome, provided findings are grounded in empirical observation.Themes of interest include, but are not limited to:• FoMO and online FoMO as primary drivers of problematic social media and smartphone use• Self-esteem, narcissistic vulnerability, and identity-related processes in compulsive digital engagement• Emotion regulation and dysregulation as underlying psychological mechanisms• Attachment styles, family functioning, and peer relationships in the development, maintenance, or mitigation of problematic use• Relational impacts: romantic relationship quality, family communication patterns, and social isolation• Functional and academic outcomes, including procrastination, disengagement, and academic achievement• Comorbidities with mood disturbances, anxiety, loneliness, body image concerns, and sleep quality• Development, adaptation, and psychometric validation of measurement tools across diverse populations• Preventative strategies, digital literacy initiatives, and clinical interventions tailored for young adults, including university and healthcare settingsPlease note: Submissions focusing exclusively on substance use disorders, gambling disorder, or video game addiction fall outside the primary scope of this collection, unless they directly investigate shared mechanisms within problematic internet and social media use. Topic editors: Massimiliano Sommantico, Rocco Servidio Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/86506/beyond-screen-time-psychological-mechanisms-and-relational-consequences-of-problematic-social-media-and-internet-use-in-young-adults