@misc{10481/108611,
year = {2025},
month = {5},
url = {https://hdl.handle.net/10481/108611},
abstract = {Background: Problematic social media use refers to the excessive and maladaptive use of social media platforms,
which negatively affects personal, social, and professional functioning. Although linked to mental health issues such
as depression, anxiety, and loneliness, the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. A potential contributing factor
to Problematic Social Media Use (PSMU) is the overvaluation of the relative utility of social media, where individuals
disproportionately overvalue social media for different utility domains (e.g., communication or emotional regulation).
This study aimed to develop and validate the Plan-net 25 scale, which was designed to assess overvaluation of the
relative utility of social media in adolescents.
Methods: The study followed three phases. Initially, a Delphi panel of 14 experts evaluated items across different
utility domains. A pilot study involving 17 adolescents was conducted, and cognitive interviews were subsequently
used to refine the scale items. Finally, the scale was administered to a large sample of 2,477 adolescents aged 12–20
years in Spain, alongside assessments of depression, anxiety, loneliness, life satisfaction, self-esteem, and problematic
social media use. The analyses included confirmatory factor analysis, Pearson correlation, and network analysis, all of
which were conducted via R 4.3.2.
Results: Confirmatory factor analysis supported the theoretical seven-factor structure, capturing the following
overvaluation of the relative utility of social media domains: social interaction, meeting new people, emotional
regulation, social acceptance, staying informed, self-expression, and boredom management. The scale demonstrated
full measurement invariance across gender and age groups (early and late adolescence). Significant correlations
were found between overvaluation of the relative utility of social media, problematic social media use, and mental
health indicators, with the emotional regulation and entertainment overvaluation of the relative utility of social media
domains showing the strongest associations with problematic social media use.
Conclusions: The Plan-net-25 scale exhibited robust psychometric properties, suggesting that it is a promising tool
for assessing overvaluation of the relative utility of social media during adolescence.},
organization = {ISCIII (ISC III CB06 03/0052)},
organization = {Ministry of Science, Innovation
and Universities, Spain (FPU grants FPU21/00527; FPU22/01588)},
publisher = {Springer Nature},
keywords = {Problematic social media use},
keywords = {Validation},
keywords = {Psychometrics properties},
title = {The seven deadly sins: measuring overvaluation of social media with the Plannet 25 scale},
doi = {10.1186/s40359-025-02801-1},
author = {Ciudad-Fernández, Víctor and Zarco-Alpuente, Alfredo and Escrivá-Martínez, Tamara and Gomis-Vicent, Elena and Espejo, Begoña and Leucona, Óscar and Perales López, José César and Lopez-Fernandez, Olatz and Baños, Rosa},
}