The role of personality and depression in problematic use of social networking sites in Greece

Abstract

The purpose of the present study is to examine the relationship of Social Networking Site (SNS) problematic usage with personality characteristics and depressive symptomatology. A sample of 143 young adults in Greece varying from 18 to 34 years of age completed four questionnaires on personality characteristics, depressive symptomatology, problematic SNS usage and socio-demographic factors. Problematic SNS usage is significantly and positively related to depression and Neuroticism, while negatively associated with Agreeableness. However, problematic use of SNS is not related to Conscientiousness, Openness to Experience and Extraversion, although the latter was found to be negatively associated with depression. Collectively, personality variables, depression and daily average usage account for about 33% of the variance in predicting problematic SNS usage. In contrast to previous research findings, age and gender are not found to be related to either problematic SNS usage or depressive symptomatology. However, place of residence is associated with Neuroticism and Problematic Use, with participants from rural areas exhibiting higher scores than participants from urban areas. Finally, Neuroticism and the average daily use of SNS have been proven to be good predictors of problematic SNS usage. Personality, depressive symptomatology and socio-demographic factors relate to the way Social Networking Sites are being used. Implications are discussed.