Jon D Elhai

Jon D Elhai
University of Toledo · Department of Psychology

Doctor of Philosophy
I study problematic internet use

About

486
Publications
214,404
Reads
How we measure 'reads'
A 'read' is counted each time someone views a publication summary (such as the title, abstract, and list of authors), clicks on a figure, or views or downloads the full-text. Learn more
24,525
Citations
Introduction
I primarily conduct research on cyberpsychology and internet addictions. Previously, I conducted research on trauma exposure and posttraumatic stress disorder, but this is no longer my focus.
Education
August 1995 - August 2000
Nova Southeastern University
Field of study
  • Clinical psychology

Publications

Publications (486)
Article
Full-text available
Background and aims Previous evidence has indicated that problematic social media use (PSMU) is characterized by an attentional bias to social media icons (such as Facebook icons), but not to social webpages (such as Facebook webpages). They suggest that there may be other factors influencing attentional bias like fear of missing out (FoMO). But it...
Article
Full-text available
Background According to the cognitive behavioral model of social anxiety, attentional bias to negative emotional information causes and maintains anxiety. The goal of attentional bias modification (ABM) is to reduce anxiety by reducing attention bias to negative emotional information. Method We used questionnaires and experiments to explore the im...
Article
Full-text available
At the time of writing, about 4.59 billion people use social media with many adolescents using their social media accounts across a myriad of applications and platforms. According to recent statistics, in 2022 individuals spent an average of 151 minutes on social media each day, illustrating the global relevance of social media (Dixon, 2022a, Dixon...
Article
Full-text available
Introduction Digital phenotyping can be an innovative and unobtrusive way to improve the detection of insomnia. This study explores the correlations between smartphone usage features (SUF) and insomnia symptoms and their predictive value for detecting insomnia symptoms. Methods In an observational study of a German convenience sample, the Insomnia...
Article
Full-text available
This work investigated the prevalence of filter bubble or echo chamber-related phenomena, psychological factors rendering individuals resilient or vulnerable to them, and their associations to political views focusing on extremity and polarization. For this, a cross-cultural replication of a study by Sindermann et al. (2021) was conducted. As an ex...
Article
The PTSD Checklist for DSM-5 (PCL-5) and the Clinician-Administered PTSD Scale for DSM-5 (CAPS-5) are two of the most widely used and well-validated PTSD measures providing total and subscale scores that correspond with DSM-5 PTSD symptoms. However, there is little information about the utility of subscale scores above and beyond the total score fo...
Article
Full-text available
People are evolutionarily predisposed to associate threat relevant stimuli with fear or aversiveness and show an attentional bias toward threat. Attentional bias modification (ABM) has been shown to reduce threat biases, while quantitative reviews assessing the effectiveness of bias modification yielded inconsistent results. The current study exami...
Chapter
This chapter focuses on the role of impulsivity in personality psychology. After a brief introduction on its relevance to (psycho-)pathologies and health outcomes, an overview of personality is provided, followed by a discussion of various approaches to defining and measuring impulsivity. The chapter then delves deeper into impulsivity as a persona...
Article
Full-text available
We explored problematic smartphone use (PSU) using latent profile analysis (LPA) and relationships with anxiety variables, including severity of generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), social anxiety disorder (SAD), and Fear of Missing Out (FoMO) in a non-clinical sample. We conducted a web-based survey (during the COVID-19 pandemic from February to Ma...
Article
Full-text available
Much research has been conducted on the association between social networks use disorder tendencies (SNUD; i.e. problematic social media use) and well-being. In more detail, a meta-analysis and further research suggest an inverse association between higher SNUD tendencies and lower well-being. In existing studies on social media use and well-being,...
Article
Fear of missing out (FoMO) is a psychological construct that recently emerged in the age of social media. This study aims to provide an overview of the progress on FoMO research and offer a future research agenda based on FoMO-related scientific articles published. We carried out this aim using a two-stage methodological approach, based on an initi...
Article
Full-text available
Problematic smartphone use (PSU) has been widely studied, and recent research has examined the affective and cognitive process risk factors that underlie its development and maintenance. Based on the Interaction of Person–Affect–Cognition–Execution model for problematic internet use, the present study analyzed the mediating role of cognitive emotio...
Article
Full-text available
Background and aims: The present study investigated processing bias for game-related cues in problematic mobile gamers (PMGs) under or above the threshold of conscious awareness. Methods: In Experiment 1, all participants (20 PMGs and 23 casual players (CPs)) finished a masked visual probe task during a brief (17ms) masked exposure condition. In...
Article
Full-text available
Purpose of the Review Social media attracts billions of users worldwide, and research has investigated how screen time or time spent online is linked to well-being. Additionally, addictive-like behaviors towards the social media platforms are a focus of many studies. However, related research often neglects the simple fact that social media compani...
Article
Based on current theoretical frameworks, there has been increasing research examining psychopathology leading to problematic smartphone use (PSU). However, less is known about the affective and cognitive processes linked to PSU. The present study aimed at analyzing the fear of missing out (FoMO) as a mediator in the association between emotion dysr...
Article
Full-text available
With the extensive use of mobile phones globally, some people engage in excessive or problematic phone use behaviors. However, little is known regarding the latent structure of problematic mobile phone use. The current study employed the Chinese versions of the Nomophobia Questionnaire, Mobile Phone Addiction Tendency Scale, and Depression-Anxiety-...
Article
Full-text available
Objective: Since the first study linking recorded smartphone variables to self-reported personality in 2011, many additional studies have been published investigating this association. In the present meta-analyses, we aimed to understand how strongly personality can be predicted via smartphone data. Method: Meta-analytical calculations were used...
Article
The current study aimed to investigate comorbidity among symptoms of depression and internet gaming disorder (IGD) utilizing symptom network analysis in a sample of Chinese adolescents. A total of 1,362 Chinese adolescents (Mean age = 15.19 ± 1.67; range 13-21; 39.79% female, 56.02% male, 4.19% not disclosed) were recruited from 11 local secondary...
Article
Full-text available
Background Trauma exposure can cause post-traumatic stress symptoms (PTSS), and persistently experiencing PTSS may lead to the development of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Research has shown that PTSS that emerged within days of trauma was a robust predictor of PTSD development. Aims To investigate patterns of early stress responses to tr...
Chapter
Smartphones allow for several daily life enhancements and productivity improvements. Yet, over the last decade the concern regarding daily life adversities in relation to excessive smartphone use have been raised. This type of behavior has been regarded as “problematic smartphone use” (PSU) to describe the effects resembling a behavioral addiction....
Chapter
In this chapter, we will first give a brief overview of the mobile instant messaging landscape. Subsequently, we focus on the instant messaging application “WhatsApp” and describe its current features and which kinds of data can be extracted from it. Based on the existing literature, we provide practical advice for researchers seeking to work with...
Article
Full-text available
Este artigo discute a síndrome de FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) sobre experiências gratificantes, uma importante construção psicológica na contemporaneidade. Apresentamos uma síntese da construção da síndrome de FOMO e sua definição e mensuração operacional. Em seguida, revisamos pesquisas empíricas recentes sobre a relação da síndrome de FOMO com nív...
Chapter
Previous research has shown that problematic smartphone use (PSU) is related to several affect-related psychopathology variables. Emotion dysregulation has been regarded as a central psychological factor associated with that type of psychopathology. In this paper, the association between expressive emotional suppression, a form of emotion dysregula...
Article
Background: Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and alcohol use disorder (AUD) are mental health conditions that often co-occur. The complexity of this comorbidity is well-documented, though the role of malleable cognitive-affective factors in PTSD/AUD warrants further study. Specifically, attaining a more comprehensive understanding of the role o...
Chapter
Since the proliferation of smartphones, the general public as well as researchers have shown a growing interest in their potentially addictive effects. Over the past years, smartphone use research has grown exponentially. While scholars have moved away from “smartphone addiction” terminology in contemporary research and opted for alternative termin...
Article
Previous evidence indicates that problematic social media use (PSMU), anxiety and depression frequently present simultaneously, which may increase symptom severity and related impairment. The main aim of this study is to measure the interconnections between these symptoms in a sample of Chinese university students and explore whether there are diff...
Article
During the COVID-19 pandemic, healthcare professionals are exposed to extreme hazards and workplace stressors. Social media postings by physicians and nurses related to COVID-19 from January 21st to June 1st 2020 were obtained from the Reddit website. Topic modeling via Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA) using a machine-learning approach was perform...
Article
Full-text available
As on-demand streaming technology rapidly expanded, binge-watching (i.e., watching multiple episodes of TV series back-to-back) has become a widespread activity, and substantial research has been conducted to explore its potential harmfulness. There is, however, a need for differentiating non-harmful and problematic binge-watching. This is the firs...
Article
Full-text available
Objective: Psychopathology, cyberpsychology, and mass media theories link psychological symptoms, such as posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), to increased media and technology usage (MTU). Given limited research in this area, we uniquely examined if specific MTU facets were associated with PTSD symptom severity. Method: A sample of 404 socioecono...
Article
Full-text available
Problematic smartphone use (PSU) symptoms are related to mental health symptoms, such as depression and anxiety. However, less investigated are current psychopathology-related processes in mediating these relationships. We analyzed boredom proneness and rumination, two variables involving negative affectivity, as possible mediators between mental h...
Conference Paper
Background: Few studies have conducted latent profile analysis (LPA) of problematic smartphone use (PSU) severity to examine underlying subgroups of individuals with diverse PSU symptom presentations. We explored such latent profiles and relations with anxiety and fear variables, including severity of generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), social anxi...
Article
Full-text available
Background and aims We aimed to systematically identify, evaluate and summarize the research on adolescent emotion dysregulation and problematic technology use. We critically appraise strengths and limitations and provide recommendations for future research. Methods We followed the guidelines of the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews...
Article
Full-text available
The purpose of the current study was to examine the latent structure and cross-cultural measurement validity of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms assessed by the PTSD Checklist for DSM-5. Participants comprised trauma-exposed Chinese and Pakistani undergraduate students (...
Article
Full-text available
Adolescents’ increased use of smartphones associates with stress and anxiety. Recently studies have examined mediating psychological constructs accounting for relations between stress and problematic smartphone use severity. The current cross-sectional study aimed to analyze anxiety and smartphone use frequency as possible mediators between stress...
Article
Full-text available
Studies that apply digital phenotyping and mobile sensing strategies have increased in recent years enabling a better understanding of psychiatric and psychological conditions, as well as neurodegenerative disorders. Although in this context the study of so-called “digital biomarkers” is proliferating, few studies have actually linked digital footp...
Article
Full-text available
In this study, problematic social media use (PSU) was modeled using machine learning with artificial neural networks (ANN) and support vector machines (SVM). Fifteen predictor variables were examined in predicting PSU, including social media usage habits (frequency of daily social media use, history of social media usage, frequency of checking soci...
Article
Full-text available
The WHO recently included Gaming Disorder as a psychiatric diagnosis. Whether there are distinct groups of adolescents who differ based on severity of gaming disorder and their relationships with other mental health and addictive behavior outcomes, including problematic smartphone use (PSU), remains unclear. The current study explored and identifie...
Article
Full-text available
Hyperinsulinemia promotes fat accumulation, causing obesity. Being an inflammatory state, obesity can induce further inflammation and is a risk factor for HPA (hypothalamic pituitary axis) dysregulation through hypercortisolism-related hyperglycemia. In another hypothesis, the sympathetic nervous system (SNS) plays a significant role in the regulat...
Article
Background Prospective research on the development and trajectory of PTSD symptoms after a traumatic event is crucial for assessment and early intervention. Further, examining predictors of PTSD pathology provides a better conceptualization of the temporal course of PTSD in trauma victims. Methods The present study examined PTSD symptom severity i...
Article
Full-text available
Scientific literature suggests that Neuroticism is an important predictor in understanding individual differences in anxiety-related coping styles such as vigilance (positive association) and cognitive avoidance (negative association). Considering Pankseppian Affective Neuroscience (AN) theory could contribute to understand these relationships more...
Article
Full-text available
Demographic and traumatic event-related risk factors for PTSD and dissociative symptoms have been examined in prior research. However, less research has examined this issue from a person-centered statistical approach to report subgroups of clinical presentations identified based on endorsed symptoms. The present study examined the relationship betw...
Article
Full-text available
The amount of money individuals were willing to accept (WTA) to discontinue using prominent Chinese social media platforms (WeChat/QQ), the willingness to pay (WTP) for using these platforms, as well as WTA/WTP disparities were investigated in between-groups and within-subjects design studies to examine their existence, size, and psychological corr...
Article
Recently, nomophobia (separation anxiety from mobile phone) has become a common phenomenon. The authors’ main purpose was to explore latent classes of solitude behaviors and how they are related to nomophobia. Chinese versions of the Nomophobia Scale and the Solitude Behaviour Scale were used in a sample of college students (351 female and 327 male...
Article
Full-text available
The COVID-19 pandemic has led to drastic changes in the world. One prominent aspect has been the transformation in interpersonal relations, especially people’s attitude towards residents from COVID epicenters. Using a 2-wave national study in mainland China during the pandemic outbreak, this study examined Chinese people’s distancing and helping in...
Article
Full-text available
A growing body of literature has demonstrated relations between mood-and anxiety-related psychopathology with problematic smartphone use (PSU) symptom severity. However, there has been little empirical inquiry of potential mediators of these relationships. The current study examined trait mindfulness and smartphone use expectancies as mediators of...
Article
Purpose Health-related online fake news (HOFN) has become a major social problem. HOFN can lead to the spread of ineffective and even harmful remedies. The study aims to understand Internet users' responses to HOFN during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic using the protective action decision model (PADM). Design/methodology/approach The authors...
Article
Full-text available
Since the outbreak of Covid-19, the use of digital devices, especially smartphones, remarkably increased. Smartphone use belongs to one’s daily routine, but can negatively impact physical and mental health, performance, and relationships if used excessively. The present study aimed to investigate potential correlates of problematic smartphone use (...
Article
Numerous psychological variables are associated with self-reported/estimated smartphone use in college students. However, less is known about how additional psychological variables involving academic study and productivity relate to objectively-measured smartphone usage, such as procrastination, surface learning, and academic productivity. We admin...
Article
Full-text available
Digital data are abundantly available for researchers in the age of the Internet of Things. In the psychological and psychiatric sciences such data can be used in myriad ways to obtain insights into mental states and traits. Most importantly, such data allow researchers to record and analyze behavior in a real-world context, a scientific approach w...
Article
Full-text available
Understanding individual differences in attitudes towards Artificial Intelligence (AI) is of importance, among others in system development. Against this background, we sought to investigate associations between personality and attitudes towards AI. Relations were investigated in samples from two countries—Germany and China—to find potentially repl...
Article
Fear of Missing Out (FoMO) is associated with self-reported problematic smartphone use (PSU) severity, but there is little investigation that includes objectively measured smartphone use. The aim of the current study was to provide insights into this domain. We combined the partially published data from two previous U.S.-based studies with college...
Article
Full-text available
PurposeRates of mental disorders in the United States military have increased in recent years. National Guard members may be particularly at risk for mental disorders, given their dual role as citizen-soldiers and their increased involvement in combat deployments during recent conflicts. The Ohio Army National Guard Mental Health Initiative (OHARNG...
Article
Risk factors for problematic smartphone use (PSU) have rapidly become an important area of research due to the prevalence of smartphones and functional impairment associated with PSU. Our aim was to examine relations between established predictors of PSU (depression and anxiety) and a potential mediator of PSU (anxiety sensitivity; AS). Participant...
Article
Full-text available
Recent years have seen a rise in research where so called “digital biomarkers” represent the focal study interest. Many researchers understand that digital biomarkers describe digital footprints providing insights into healthy and pathological human (neuro-)biology. Beyond that the term digital biomarker is also used at times to describe more gener...
Article
Full-text available
The outbreak of COVID-19 has caused a major impact on productivity and life functioning, and also led to adverse emotional reactions. In the face of this public health event, increased anxiety is one of the most common emotional reactions. Previous studies have shown that anxiety sensitivity, rumination and anxiety are closely related. Various dime...
Article
Full-text available
Background: As an emergent public health event, COVID-19 has had a significant impact on mental health, particularly causing anxiety. Some cognitive-affective related studies have demonstrated that attentional control is related to levels of anxiety. More specifically, recent research has shown that anxiety sensitivity is uniquely associated with m...
Article
Full-text available
The present study investigates links between fear of COVID-19, the personality trait of neuroticism, social networks use disorder, and smartphone use disorder (SNUD and SmUD, respectively) tendencies. In an online survey, N = 932 participants recruited at a Chinese University (237 males and 695 females) completed self-reports on fear of COVID-19, n...
Article
Research has demonstrated that posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is associated with internet-related problematic behaviors. However, studies have not explored the linkage between PTSD symptoms and internet gaming disorder (IGD) symptoms. The current study aimed to investigate the relationship between posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) and IGD...
Article
Full-text available
Previous research has shown that problematic smartphone use (PSU) is related to several affect-related psychopathology variables. Emotion dysregulation has been regarded as a central psychological factor associated with that type of psychopathology. In this paper, the association between expressive emotional suppression, a form of emotion dysregula...
Article
This study was designed to measure the impact of smartphone usage among college students on their current academic success. We report the results from a survey among 99 undergraduate student iPhone users in a large Midwestern U.S. university. The survey combines objective smartphone use time directly obtained from Apple's ScreenTime feature with of...
Article
Full-text available
Research in the field of digital phenotyping and mobile sensing has seen a tremendous rise in interest over the last few years. The psychological and psychiatric sciences were early adopters of implementing these promising techniques into their research to better understand the human mind. The most often studied data to predict mental states and tr...
Article
Full-text available
Despite the popularity of the WeChat social media platform in China, investigations on its overuse potential as well as personal characteristics being associated with problematic WeChat use are scarce. Against this background, correlations of personality and Fear of Missing Out (FoMO) on rewarding experiences with problematic WeChat use were examin...
Article
The fear of missing out on rewarding social experiences (FOMO) is an increasingly studied psychological construct, related to negative affectivity and increased online social engagement. Yet the heterogeneity of FOMO across individuals is not known. We conducted a latent profile analysis (LPA) of FOMO self‐report ratings to determine sample heterog...
Article
Background Experiences of maltreatment in childhood, such as abuse and neglect, have been associated with poorer psychological well-being in adulthood, including elevated risk of revictimization and increased likelihood of developing posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms. Maltreatment has also been associated with reduced resources related...
Article
Background: Despite the benefits that may result from smartphone use, evidence increasingly indicates that smartphone use may also have negative consequences when used in a disordered manner. One major concept in this research domain is a putative smartphone use disorder. Objective: It is not known how a positive evaluation or acceptance of the sma...
Article
Full-text available
Increasing attention has been given to the role of anxiety symptoms in influencing problematic smartphone use (PSU). However, less is known about potential moderation mechanisms underlying this relationship. In the present study, we examined the relationship between anxiety symptoms and PSU severity, and whether this relationship was moderated by p...
Article
Full-text available
TikTok (in Chinese: DouYin; formerly known as musical.ly) currently represents one of the most successful Chinese social media applications in the world. Since its founding in September 2016, TikTok has seen widespread distribution, in particular, attracting young users to engage in viewing, creating, and commenting on “LipSync-Videos” on the app....