Differential Indirect Associations of Desire Thinking Components Linking Distress Tolerance and Experiential Avoidance With Problematic Social Media Use: A Parallel-Pathway Analysis Within the I-PACE Framework

Problematic social media use (PSMU) has been conceptualized within process-based models linking individual vulnerabilities to affective-cognitive processes. This cross-sectional study examined whether verbal perseveration and imaginal prefiguration differentially characterized the indirect associations of distress tolerance and experiential avoidance with PSMU. A sample of 388 university students (66.2% women; M = 25.61 years) completed self-report measures. Parallel indirect associations were tested using PROCESS Model 4 with 5,000 bias-corrected bootstrap resamples. Distress tolerance was negatively, and experiential avoidance positively, associated with PSMU. Verbal perseveration showed a stronger unique association with PSMU (β = .373, p < .001), whereas imaginal prefiguration was not statistically supported (β = .057, p = .320). Indirect associations through verbal perseveration were supported for distress tolerance (estimate = −.080, 95% CI [−.127, −.036]) and experiential avoidance (estimate = .081, 95% CI [.028, .143]); corresponding pathways through imaginal prefiguration were not supported. Contrast analyses supported stronger indirect associations through verbal perseveration. These findings indicate differential statistical relevance across desire-thinking components without establishing causal mediation.