IntroductionProblematic social media use (PSMU) has become a growing research topic due to its potential psychological and cognitive consequences. However, little research has examined its relationship with everyday memory functioning, particularly specific forms of memory.MethodsA sample of 943 Spanish young adults aged 18 -35 completed validated measures of PSMU, everyday memory failures, prospective memory lapses and retrospective memory lapses. Non-parametric analyses, group comparisons and mediation analyses with bootstrap resampling were conducted.ResultsHigher PSMU was associated with more frequent everyday memory failures and with greater prospective and retrospective lapses. Everyday memory failures mediated a substantial proportion of the association between PSMU and both prospective and retrospective lapses. Participants meeting the proposed clinical cutoff for PSMU reported poorer memory functioning than those below this threshold.DiscussionThese findings suggest that PSMU is associated with greater subjective memory difficulties in daily life, highlighting the relevance of everyday memory failures as a potential explanatory mechanism linking problematic social media use with prospective and retrospective memory problems.
Radically different