Faculty of Medicine of Tunis, Tunis El Manar University, Tunis, Tunisia.
The Tunisian Center of Early Intervention in Psychosis, Department of psychiatry "Ibn Omrane", Razi hospital, Manouba, Tunisia.
Int J Environ Health Res. 2024 Mar;34(3):1835-1846. doi: 10.1080/09603123.2023.2248005. Epub 2023 Aug 18.
Research on the association between social media use disorder (SMUD) and face-to-face sexual function remains controversial, surprisingly scarce and even non-existing in certain vulnerable populations such as university students. We aimed to explore the mediating role of loneliness between SMUD and two dimensions of sexual function (sexual arousal and desire) in a sample of Lebanese university students. A total of 363 university students participated in a cross-sectional survey. Sexual Dysfunction Questionnaire, Jong-Gierveld Loneliness Scale and Social Media Use Disorder scale were used to measure sexual function (desire and arousal), loneliness and SMUD respectively. The mediation analysis results showed that loneliness mediated the association between SMUD and sexual arousal (but not sexual desire). Higher SMUD was significantly associated with more loneliness, whereas more loneliness was significantly associated with less sexual arousal. Subsequently, higher SMUD was significantly associated with less sexual arousal. The present findings edge the university staff, clinicians, and researchers towards the psychological mechanisms that may help university students improve their sexual function, and calls for additional research in this area. Attention should be given to the possible potential role of moderating social media use in tackling loneliness and improving students' sexual function. In addition, routine sexual counseling should be considered when assessing and intervening with students having SMUD.
社交媒体使用障碍（SMUD）与面对面性功能之间的关联研究仍然存在争议，令人惊讶的是，在某些弱势群体（如大学生）中，这种关联研究非常少，甚至不存在。我们旨在探讨黎巴嫩大学生样本中 SMUD 与性功能两个维度（性唤起和欲望）之间的孤独中介作用。共有 363 名大学生参与了横断面调查。使用性功能障碍问卷、Jong-Gierveld 孤独量表和社交媒体使用障碍量表分别测量性功能（欲望和唤起）、孤独和 SMUD。中介分析结果表明，孤独中介了 SMUD 与性唤起（但不是性欲望）之间的关联。较高的 SMUD 与更高的孤独感显著相关，而更高的孤独感与较低的性唤起显著相关。随后，较高的 SMUD 与较低的性唤起显著相关。本研究结果使大学工作人员、临床医生和研究人员关注可能有助于大学生改善性功能的心理机制，并呼吁在该领域进行更多的研究。应该注意的是，在解决孤独感和提高学生性功能方面，适度使用社交媒体可能具有潜在作用。此外，在评估和干预有 SMUD 的学生时，应考虑常规的性咨询。
