Internet Use, Facebook Intrusion, and Depression: Results of a Cross-Sectional Study

Facebook has become a very popular social networking platform today, particularly among adolescents and young adults, profoundly changing the way they communicate and interact. However, some reports have indicated that excessive Facebook use might have detrimental effects on mental health and be associated with certain psychological problems. Because previous findings on the relationship between Facebook addiction and depression were not unambiguous, further investigation was required. The main objective of our study was to examine the potential associations between Internet use, depression, and Facebook intrusion. A total of 672 Facebook users took part in the cross-sectional study. The Facebook Intrusion Questionnaire and the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale were used. For collecting the data, the snowball sampling procedure was used. We showed that depression can be a predictor of Facebook intrusion. Our results provides additional evidence that daily Internet use time in minutes, gender, and age are also predictors of Facebook intrusion: that Facebook intrusion can be predicted by being male, young age, and an extensive number of minutes spent online. On the basis of this study, it is possible to conclude that there are certain demographic - variables, such as age, gender, or time spent online - that may help in outlining the profile of a user who may be in danger of becoming addicted to Facebook. This piece of knowledge may serve for prevention purposes.