Chew, Peter K.H., and Poh, Elissa Y.H. (2025) Negative emotional states and technological addictions: The buffering and paradoxical role of perceived social support. Australasian Psychiatry. (In Press)

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Abstract

Objective: Negative emotional states are well-established risk factors for technological addictions because some individuals use games, social media, or pornography excessively as a coping strategy. Given these links, perceived social support should act as a buffer against the effects of negative emotional states. Consequently, the current exploratory study aimed to examine the role of perceived social support in moderating the effects of negative emotional states on technological addictions.

Methods: There was a total of 169 participants (71.6% females, 27.2% males, and 1.2% others). They completed instruments that assess negative emotional states, perceived social support, internet gaming disorder (IGD), social media addiction (SMA), and problematic pornography use (PPU).

Results: The results showed that perceived social support had buffering effects (reducing symptoms of technological addictions), paradoxical effects (exacerbating symptoms of technological addictions), and no significant effects. Specifically, individuals with low negative emotional states had lower PPU with perceived social support from significant other and family. However, individuals with high negative emotional states had higher IGD and PPU with perceived social support from family.

Conclusion: Limitations include the lack of distinction between online and offline perceived social support and the omission of the last item of the instrument for PPU. Limitations notwithstanding, the study extended on previous research and highlighted the complex relationships between negative emotional states, perceived social support, and technological addictions.

Item ID:	86042
Item Type:	Article (Research - C1)
ISSN:	1440-1665
Keywords:	negative emotional states, perceived social support, internet gaming disorder, social media addiction, problematic pornography use
Copyright Information:	© The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists 2025. Open access CC-BY-NC
Date Deposited:	07 Jul 2025 22:34
FoR Codes:	52 PSYCHOLOGY > 5203 Clinical and health psychology > 520302 Clinical psychology @ 100%
SEO Codes:	28 EXPANDING KNOWLEDGE > 2801 Expanding knowledge > 280121 Expanding knowledge in psychology @ 100%
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