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theses

The primary purpose of this study was to explore problematic internet, television, and so-cial media use and its relation to life satisfaction, appreciation and psychological well being. Data from 294 undergraduates were analyzed. Measures included the Psychological Wellbeing Scale (PWB), Satisfaction with Life Scale, Appreciation Scale, Social Connectedness scale, Online Cognition scale (OCS), UCLA Loneliness scale-short form, Social Media Use Integration scale (SMUIS), Television Addiction scale (TAS), and demographic questions. Bivariate correla-tions and hierarchical multiple regression analyses (HMRAs) were computed to assess the rela-tions between problematic modern technology use, and life satisfaction, psychological wellbeing, and three components of appreciation. Based on the HMRAs, the TV addiction subscales added significant variance in all six PWB subscales, beyond demographics. This was not the case for life satisfaction. The two subscales measuring integration of social media use also added signifi-cant variance in the six PWB domains, as well as in life satisfaction, beyond demographics and TV addiction. Finally, the Online Cognition Scale's four subscales added significant variance in the PWB subscales and life satisfaction, beyond demographics, TV addiction, and the integration of social media use. With regard to predicting the three appreciation subscales, the HMRAs indi-cated that only the social media use integration subscales added significant variance in "Have" Focus scale scores and Interpersonal appreciation scores, beyond demographics and TV addic-tion (both ps < .001). Based on the HMRAs, the demographic variables and social media use in-tegration contributed significant variance in the 3 Appreciation subscales. Finally we found that social connectedness mediated the relationship between social media use (both subscales of the SMUIS) and life satisfaction. This means that the extent to which one feels socially connected with others could be a mechanism that underlies the relation between the integration of one's so-cial media use and life satisfaction. Limitations of the study, such as the survey method, sample and the correlational design, are discussed. Implications for future research, such as studying changes in variables over time and examining other forms of technology, are discussed.

ETD_7309

Psy.D.

Includes bibliographical references

by Stephanie Cooper

doi:10.7282/T33B62DZ

ETD doctoral

The author owns the copyright to this work.