Reciprocal links among gratitude, emotion regulation, and social media addiction: A positive psychology framework

Abstract

Social media addiction (SMA) is prevalent across age groups and has attracted both public concern and scholarly attention. From a positive psychology perspective, this longitudinal study focused on gratitude and emotion regulation, examining the prospective effects of these two socio‐emotional strengths on SMA. Using an online survey platform, 660 participants (54.1% female) aged 19 to 69 years ( M  = 32.99, SD  = 7.63) completed the baseline and 6‐month follow‐up questionnaires in January and July 2024. As hypothesized, gratitude and emotion regulation were negatively correlated with SMA at both waves. The cross‐lagged panel model further demonstrated the bidirectional associations: higher baseline gratitude and emotion regulation predicted lower SMA at follow‐up, whereas baseline SMA predicted decreases in subsequent gratitude and emotion regulation. Moreover, baseline emotion regulation predicted higher gratitude at follow‐up, but the reverse pathway was not observed. These findings support positive psychology interventions that strengthen gratitude and emotion regulation as preventive strategies against SMA.