The Mediating Role of Perfectionism in the Relationship between Instagram Addiction and Emotion Dysregulation in Nursing Students

Mohaghegh, Amirhossein; Sharifi Rahnemo, saeid; Yaghmaei, Safoura

[Home ] [Archive]

[ فارسی ]

Iranian Journal of Health Education and Health Promotion

فصلنامه آموزش بهداشت و ارتقاء سلامت ایران

Main Menu

Home

Journal Information

Articles archive

For Authors

Publication Ethics

Editorial policy

Contact us

Site Facilities

Reviewe

Citation Impact

Search in website

COPE Membership

Creative Commons Licence

Open access

Back to the articles list

Back to browse issues page

The Mediating Role of Perfectionism in the Relationship between Instagram Addiction and Emotion Dysregulation in Nursing Students

Amirhossein Mohaghegh

, Saeid Sharifi Rahnemo ^*

, Safoura Yaghmaei

Abstract: (32 Views)

Background and Objectives: The expansion of social networks, particularly Instagram, has given rise to addictive usage patterns associated with emotion dysregulation; however, the mediating mechanisms underlying this relationship remain unclear. Perfectionism, as a multidimensional personality construct, represents a suitable theoretical variable for a mediating role. Given the importance of mental health among nursing students, the present study aimed to investigate the mediating role of perfectionism in the relationship between Instagram addiction and emotion dysregulation.

Materials and Methods: This descriptive-correlational cross-sectional study was conducted on 250 nursing students at the School of Nursing, Hamadan University of Medical Sciences. Sampling was performed using voluntary and online methods. Data were collected using the Instagram Addiction Questionnaire (Calvo-Francés, 2016), the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (Gratz & Roemer, 2004), and the Tehran Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale (Besharat, 2007). Data were analyzed using Pearson's correlation coefficient and structural equation modeling with SPSS and AMOS software.

Results: The results indicated a significant direct relationship between Instagram addiction and emotion dysregulation (t=1.652, df=248, p=0.049). Instagram addiction also had a significant relationship with perfectionism (β=-0.178, p=0.037). With the inclusion of the mediating variable (perfectionism) in the model, the beta coefficient for the direct path decreased from 0.157 to 0.154. However, the bootstrap test results (with 5,000 resamples and %95 confidence intervals) showed that the indirect relationship between Instagram addiction and emotion dysregulation through perfectionism was not significant (β=-0.002, Boot CI %95: -0.042 to 0.031, p=0.112).

Conclusion: While confirming the direct relationships of Instagram addiction with both emotion dysregulation and perfectionism, the findings revealed that, contrary to theoretical expectations, perfectionism did not play a significant mediating role in this relationship. This finding underscores the complexity of the explanatory mechanisms underlying this association. From a practical perspective, clinical interventions could focus on other variables. Further longitudinal studies with more complex designs and the examination of moderator variables are recommended.

Open Access Policy: This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Keywords: Instagram Addiction, Emotion Dysregulation, Perfectionism, Nursing Student

Type of Study: Research | Subject: Health psychology
Received: 2026/05/17 | Accepted: 2026/10/3

References

1. Sharifi Rahnemo S, Mozayani Monfared A, Seidi M, Masoumi SM, Sharifi Rahnemo M. A Systematic Study of the Philosophical-Social Foundations of the Electronic Curriculum in the Context of Medical Education. jmed. 2025;19(4):1001-1018. [DOI:10.18502/jmed.v19i4.18183]

2. Wan J, Zhou Z. The relationship between state-fear of missing out, loneliness, adaptive perfectionism and social media use in university students: a questionnaire and intervention study. BMC Psychol. 2025 Jul 9;13(1):761. [DOI:10.1186/s40359-025-03090-4] [PMID] [PMCID]

3. Nagata JM, Shim JE, Balasubramanian P, Cheng CM, Al-Shoaibi OAAA, Shao IY, et al. Prospective Associations Between Early Adolescent Problematic Screen Use, Mental Health, Sleep, and Substance Use. Am J Prev Med. 2026; doi: 10.1016/j.amepre.2025.108248. [DOI:10.1016/j.amepre.2025.108248] [PMID] [PMCID]

4. Sierra-Carot M, Motos-Sellés P, Giménez-Costa JA, Cortés-Tomás MT. Effects of Instagram addiction on mood variables in a youth population: a systematic review. Rev Esp Drogodepend. 2025;50(3):13-54. [DOI:10.54108/10117]

5. Fallah M, et al. Targeting Internet Addiction Through Body Awareness Psychotherapy: The Mediating Role of Executive Functions and Emotion Regulation. Brain Behav. 2025 Sep;15(9):e70846. [DOI:10.1002/brb3.70846] [PMID] [PMCID]

6. Valyan A, Abolghasemi FS, Achab S, Ashrafi M, Baldacchino AM, Demetrovics Z, et al. Treatment Approaches for Problematic Usage of the Internet (PUI): A Dual-Level Meta-Analysis of Meta-Analyses and Randomized Controlled Trials. medRxiv (Preprint). 2025 Oct 3 (cited 2026 Apr 27). Available from: https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.10.02.25337159v1 [DOI:10.1101/2025.10.02.25337159] [PMID] [PMCID]

7. Fathi A, Sadeghi S, Maleki Rad AA, Sharifi Rahnemo S, Rostami H, Abdolmohammadi K. The effect of the amount of virtual space use on health-promoting lifestyle and coronavirus anxiety in youth. Iran J Psychiatry Clin Psychol. 2020;26(3):332-347. [DOI:10.32598/ijpcp.26.3415.1]

8. Parsons CA, Alden LE. Influencing emotion: Social anxiety and comparisons on Instagram. Emotion. 2022;22(6):1182-1195.

9. Sherlock M, Wagstaff DL. Exploring the relationship between frequency of Instagram use, exposure to idealized images, and psychological well-being in women. Psychol Pop Media Cult. 2019;8(4):482-490. [DOI:10.1037/ppm0000182]

10. Marengo D, Longobardi C, Fabris MA, Settanni M. Highly-visual social media and internalizing symptoms in adolescence: The mediating role of body image concerns. Comput Hum Behav. 2018;82:63-69. [DOI:10.1016/j.chb.2018.01.003]

11. Fardouly J, Vartanian LR. Social media and body image concerns: Current research and future directions. Curr Opin Psychol. 2016;9:1-5. [DOI:10.1016/j.copsyc.2015.09.005] [PMCID]

12. Ellis A. Reason and emotion in psychotherapy. New York: L. Stuart; 1962.

13. Young JE. Cognitive therapy for personality disorders: a schema-focused approach. 3rd ed. Sarasota (FL): Professional Resource Press; 1999.

14. Fathi A, Sharifi Rahnemo S, Aghazadeh R. Relationship Between the Components of Mobile Addiction and The Level of Mental and Social Health and Lawlessness of Young People. Iran J Health Educ Health Promot. 2022;10(2):185-194. [DOI:10.52547/ijhehp.102٫7]

15. Vanhoffelen G, Gonzalez A, Schreurs L, Giraudeau C, Vandenbosch L. The Perfect Li(f)e: A Longitudinal Study on Positive Social Media Content and European Adolescents' Perfectionism. Commun Res. 2025; doi: 10.1177/00936502251326461. [DOI:10.1177/00936502251337650]

16. Mojibpour M, et al. Exploring associations between problematic technology-dependent behaviors, physical and mental health, sleep quality, and academic procrastination among medical students. BMC Public Health. 2025 Jul 2;25(1):2190. doi: 10.1186/s12889-025-23405-9. [DOI:10.1186/s12889-025-23405-9] [PMID] [PMCID]

17. Runcan R, et al. Caught in the Web-Emotional Regulation Difficulties and Internet Addiction Among Romanian Medical and Technical University Students: A Pilot Cross-Sectional Study. Healthcare (Basel). 2025 Oct 6;13(19):2528. doi: 10.3390/healthcare13192528. [DOI:10.3390/healthcare13192528] [PMID] [PMCID]

18. Calvo-Frances F. Internet Abusive Use Questionnaire: Psychometric properties. Comput Hum Behav. 2016;59:187-194. [DOI:10.1016/j.chb.2016.01.038]

19. Basiti S, Mohtashami M. The effect of cognitive and behavioral dimensions of social anxiety on problematic internet use mediated by gender roles. Soc Psychol Res. 2021;11(43):167-186. doi: 10.22034/spr.2021.304862.1682.

20. Gratz KL, Roemer L. Multidimensional assessment of emotion regulation and dysregulation: Development, factor structure, and initial validation of the difficulties in emotion regulation scale. J Psychopathol Behav Assess. 2004;26(1):41-54. doi: 10.1023/B:JOBA.0000007455.08539.94. [DOI:10.1023/B:JOBA.0000007455.08539.94] [PMCID]

21. Basharat MA. Kamal-gava khashm (Perfectionism and anger). J Mod Psychol Res. 2010;5(17):27-44. (Persian).

22. Marengo D, Mignogna A, Elhai JD, Settanni M. Distinguishing high engagement from problematic symptoms in Instagram users: Associations with big five personality, psychological distress, and motives in an Italian sample. Cyberpsychology. 2024;18(5):1-15. [DOI:10.5817/CP2024-5-4]

23. Salek Ebrahimi L, Ahmadi G, Masjedi Arani A, Mousavi SE. Predicting internet addiction in medical students by general self-efficacy, difficulty in emotion regulation, and resilience. Pract Clin Psychol. 2019;7(3):167-174. [DOI:10.32598/jpcp7٫3.167]

24. Varaona A, Alvarez-Mon MA, Serrano-Garcia I, et al. Exploring the relationship between Instagram use and self-criticism, self-compassion, and body dissatisfaction in the Spanish population: Observational study. J Med Internet Res. 2024;26:e51957. [DOI:10.2196/51957] [PMID] [PMCID]

25. Besharat MA, Farahmand H. The association of perfectionism dimensions with depression and anxiety symptoms: The mediating role of difficulties in emotion regulation. Rooyesh-e-Ravanshenasi J. 2020;9(7):1-10.

26. Bagheri Sheykhangafshe F, Savabi Niri V, Azizrousta S, Bourbour Z, Farahani H. The effectiveness of compassion-focused therapy in social media disorders, depression, and imposter syndrome in medical students with academic burnout. J Med Educ. 2026;20(4):1384-1398.

Send email to the article author

Add your comments about this article