Pathological Personality Domains and Social Media Use in Emerging Adults: Mediation by Social Media Self-Control Failure

Social media use has been associated with negative effects on mental health, but little is known about the role of personality pathology in predicting social media use. To address this gap, this longitudinal study examined the relationship between self-reported pathological personality domains (Short Form Personality Inventory for the DSM-5; PID-5-SF), social media use (hours per day) and social media self-control failure measured 3 years later. A total of 368 emerging adults (M age = 24.86 years, SD = 1.11, 55% female) were included. Using a multivariate mediation model, we investigated whether pathological personality traits relate to social media use through social media self-control failure. Results indicated that while no direct relationships were observed, social media self-control failure served as an indirect-only mediator between the pathological personality domain of disinhibition and social media use. These findings have implications for clinical practice in identifying individuals at risk for higher social media use.