Phenomenological Investigation of the Causes of Addiction to Social Networking among High School Students in Tehran City, Iran

The widespread and uncontrolled use of Cyberspace has led to dependency and some problems for some users. The purpose of this study was to investigate the causes of addiction to social networks among the adolescents. This study was done using the grounded theory method. The data were collected from 39 high school students (14 boy and 25 girl students) using unstructured interviews. The method of Strauss and Corbin, which consists of open, axial, and selective coding, was used for data analysis. Findings: Research findings included 4 main categories (individual, family, social factors, and cyberspace features), and 17 primary concepts (connecting with others, loneliness, avoid from problems, reduce negative emotions, personality features, negative beliefs, psychological disorders, life-skills deficits, entertainment, authoritarian parenting, neglect, the role of peers, social damages, attractiveness, easy access, anonymity, and information transfer speed). The results revealed that along with personal factors, family and social factors affect social networks addiction in adolescents. Therefore, it is necessary for psychologists to adopt comprehensive therapeutic plans that focus on the rebuilding and rehabilitation of family relationships in addition to individual treatment.