Facebook and TikTok Addiction in Trindiad and Tobago: Prevalence and Predictors

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Authors

Troy Smith¹

1. Institute of Criminology, University of Trinidad and Tobago

Conference / event

The University of Trinidad and Tobago 3rd Research Symposium (2021), August 2021 (Virtual)

Poster summary

This study focuses on problematic Facebook use (PFU) and problematic Tik Tok use (PTTU) to understand their prevalence amongst university students and their relationship to gratification, personality traits, psychological variables, engagement and demographic factors. An examination of the literature shows a dearth of studies empirically assessing PTTU leaving a considerable gap in academic knowledge on who, why and how the service is used or misused. Further, no studies were found which sought to empirically compare prevalence or predictors between social media platforms. Such query not only adds to our understanding of the extent of the problem in general but specifically to the understudied Latin American and the Caribbean (LAC) cultural context. Further, the study contributes empirical data to the ongoing discussion on whether social media addiction should be measured collectively or individually as has predominantly been the case.

Keywords

Addiction, Facebook, Tiktok, Caribbean, Multivariate multiple linear regression, Mental health

Research areas

Psychology and Behavioral Sciences

References

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8. Smith, T. (2022). Assessing the Effects of COVID-19 on Online Routine Activities and Cybercrime: A Snapshot of the Effect of Sheltering in Place. Caribbean Journal of Multidisciplinary Studies, 1(1), 36–60.
9. Ybarra, M., Alexander, C., & Mitchell, K. (2005). Depressive symptomatology, youth Internet use, and online interactions: A national survey. Journal of Adolescent Health, 36(1), 9–18

Funding

No data provided

Supplemental files

No data provided

Additional information

Competing interests

No competing interests were disclosed.

Data availability statement

The datasets generated during and / or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

Creative Commons license

Copyright © 2022 Smith. This is an open access work distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.