From Offline Isolation to Online Escape: Psychosocial Pathways to Digital Refuge Seeking Behaviours among Adolescents in Ibadan, Nigeria

Adolescents increasingly turn to digital platforms as sources of emotional and psychological comfort, particularly in contexts of social isolation and intensive social media engagement. Despite growing concern, little is known about the psychosocial predictors of digital refuge among adolescents in Ibadan, Nigeria. This study examined the influence of loneliness, emotional dependency, and social media addiction on digital refuge among adolescents in Ibadan. A cross-sectional research design was adopted, using a purposive sampling technique to recruit 415 in-school adolescents (males = 46.4%, females = 53.6%) with the mean age of 14.89 years (SD = 1.46). Data were collected using the Digital Refuge Scale, Loneliness Scale, Emotional Dependency Scale, and Social Media Addiction Scale. Hierarchical multiple regression analysis showed that loneliness, emotional dependency, and social media addiction jointly predicted digital refuge (R = .45; R² = .20; F(3, 269) = 22.21, p < .001). Loneliness (β = .320, t = 5.38, p < .001) and social media addiction (β = .152, t = 2.57, p < .05) were significant independent predictors, whereas emotional dependency was not (β = .107, t = 1.71, p > .05). Independent samples t-test revealed no significant gender difference in digital refuge (t(381) = 0.07, p > .05). One-way ANOVA indicated that parental occupation (F(3, 364) = 1.898, p > .05) and parental marital status (F(4, 369) = 0.905, p > .05) did not significantly influence digital refuge. In conclusion, the study demonstrates that loneliness and social media addiction are key psychological predictors of digital refuge among adolescents in Ibadan. These findings highlight the need for school- and community-based interventions that address adolescent loneliness and promote healthy social media use to support psychological well-being