Predicting Digital Emotional Dependence From Loneliness, Attachment Anxiety, and Perceived Social Support Among Adolescents: A Hierarchical Multiple Regression Study
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.61838/kman.jayps.6312Keywords:
digital emotional dependence, loneliness, attachment anxiety, perceived social support, adolescents, hierarchical multiple regressionAbstract
Objective: This study aimed to determine whether loneliness, attachment anxiety, and perceived social support predict digital emotional dependence among Canadian adolescents beyond the effects of age, gender, and daily social media use.
Methods and Materials: A cross-sectional descriptive-correlational design was conducted with 412 adolescents aged 13–18 years enrolled in secondary schools in Canada. Digital emotional dependence was assessed using the Social Integration and Emotional Connection dimension of the Social Media Use Integration Scale, loneliness was measured with the UCLA Loneliness Scale Version 3, attachment anxiety was assessed using the anxiety dimension of the Experiences in Close Relationships–Relationship Structures Questionnaire, and perceived social support was measured with the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support. Data were analyzed in SPSS 29 using Pearson correlations and hierarchical multiple regression. Age, gender, and daily social media use were entered in the first block, followed sequentially by loneliness, attachment anxiety, and perceived social support.
Findings: The final hierarchical regression model was significant, F(6, 405) = 72.54, p < .001, and explained 51.8% of the variance in digital emotional dependence, R² = .518, adjusted R² = .511. Loneliness produced the largest incremental contribution, ΔR² = .225, p < .001, followed by attachment anxiety, ΔR² = .080, p < .001, and perceived social support, ΔR² = .046, p < .001. In the final model, loneliness was the strongest positive predictor, β = .31, p < .001, followed by attachment anxiety, β = .25, p < .001, and daily social media use, β = .22, p < .001. Perceived social support was a significant negative predictor, β = −.23, p < .001. Age and gender were not significant predictors.
Conclusion: Digital emotional dependence among adolescents appears to be shaped more strongly by interpersonal and emotional factors than by demographic characteristics alone, with loneliness and attachment anxiety increasing vulnerability and perceived social support functioning as a protective factor.
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