The psychobiological impact of social media addiction: linking stress, depression, and inflammation among young adults

This study examined social media addiction (SMA), psychological distress, and systemic inflammation within a psychobiological framework. A total of 115 young adults in Kuwait, an underrepresented population with high digital engagement, completed validated measures of SMA, perceived stress, and depression, and provided blood samples for CRP analysis. Higher SMA was significantly associated with higher stress (R² = 0.34), depression (R² = 0.43), and inflammation (R² = 0.49). A multiple regression model showed that stress, depression, and CRP jointly explained 59% of the variance in SMA, with CRP emerging as the strongest predictor. These findings support a biopsychosocial model of SMA and highlight the interrelated behavioral, psychological, and biological processes underlying problematic social media use. Consistent with the Social Signal Transduction Theory of Depression, the results suggest that digital social stress may be accompanied by inflammatory responses, highlighting the need for culturally informed, psychobiological interventions.