Behavioral Patterns of Individuals with Mental Disorders in the Virtual Space: Comparison with Non-Affected Individuals

Objective Today, social media has become an inseparable part of daily life for many people around the world. Problematic use of social media can have significant negative consequences, which has made identifying its predictive factors a topic of interest for researchers over the past two decades. This study compares individuals with mental disorders and non-affected individuals in terms of problematic social media use. Method This study was descriptive and causal-comparative. The statistical population included all men and women aged 14 to 65, residing in Yazd, Iran, who were diagnosed with mental disorders and had visited medical centers, as well as non-affected individuals. A total of 233 participants were selected through a non-random, convenience sampling method. They completed the Social Media Disorder Scale (SMDS), the Cyberbullying Scale, and the Problematic Pornography Use Scale (PPUS). Data were analyzed using SPSS-26. Findings The results indicated that there was a significant difference between individuals with mental disorders and non-affected individuals in terms of social media use, cyberbullying, and internet pornography. Specifically, individuals with borderline personality disorder had higher scores in social media disorder compared to non-affected individuals and other groups of patients (including those with anxiety, depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), and bipolar disorder). The use of pornography was higher in individuals with borderline personality disorder, depression, OCD, and bipolar disorder compared to non-affected individuals. In cyberbullying, except for individuals with anxiety disorders, the other groups had higher scores compared to non-affected individuals. Among the affected individuals, those with borderline personality disorder had higher scores compared to the other groups, and all of these differences were statistically significant. Conclusion This study showed that problematic use of social media is significantly higher in individuals with mental disorders than in non-affected individuals, and there are significant differences between different disorders in this regard. Given the various consequences of problematic social media use, it appears essential that the level and type of social media behavior in individuals with mental disorders should be considered in therapeutic interventions.