From the Cluttered Room to the Full Hard Drive: The Relationship Between Hoarding Disorder and Digital Hoarding

The rapid expansion of digital information has given rise to new forms of hoarding that share features with hoarding disorder, yet their underlying psychological mechanisms remain insufficiently understood. Although hoarding disorder (HD) has been extensively studied, digital hoarding (DH) has received far less empirical attention within the behavioral sciences. This study examines whether the factors associated with hoarding disorder also account for digital hoarding and whether hoarding disorder influences digital hoarding. Using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM), data from 344 university students were analyzed, considering cognitive factors (memory, attention, and decision making) and emotional factors (stress, enjoyment, and anxiety). The results reveal that stress is the most influential factor in both behaviors. However, the relative importance of secondary factors differs: enjoyment plays a more prominent role in hoarding disorder, whereas memory is more salient in digital hoarding. Furthermore, hoarding disorder directly predicts digital hoarding and mediates the effects of stress, enjoyment, and memory, explaining 37.6% of the variance in digital hoarding. These findings suggest that digital hoarding is not merely an extension of hoarding disorder but rather a behavior characterized by distinct psychological dynamics.