Problematic Digital Behaviors, Procrastination, and Psychological Well-Being: An Integrative Explanatory Model of Happiness in Young Adults

Background: In recent years, the emergence and development of new technologies have led to an increase in problematic digital behaviors, which have been associated with lower levels of subjective well-being and reduced perceptions of happiness among young people. Methods: This cross-sectional study employed a non-experimental, descriptive, and correlational design. The aim was to examine the relationships among problematic digital behaviors, maladaptive coping, and subjective well-being, in order to develop an integrative explanatory model. Participants completed a series of online questionnaires assessing the variables of interest. A path analysis was conducted to test the hypothesized model. Results: The sample consisted of 763 young individuals aged between 18 and 30 years, with a mean age of M = 21.4 (SD = 2.76), and 66.7% were women. Results indicated that problematic internet use was positively associated with problematic pornography use, gaming disorder, and compulsive buying disorder, explaining 12%, 7%, and 13% of their variance, respectively. Moreover, all four behaviors exhibited negative relationships with psychological well-being, with procrastination acting as a mediating variable. The model accounted for 23% of the variance in procrastination and 19% in psychological well-being. Finally, psychological well-being was positively and significantly associated with happiness, explaining 46% of its variance. Conclusions: The proposed theoretical model demonstrated good fit across all goodness-of-fit indices, highlighting the importance of understanding the role of emerging problematic digital behaviors and their impact on well-being and happiness. These findings support the promotion of self-regulation strategies and healthy digital habits.