Differentiated Neurocognitive Profiles in Problematic Social Media Use: Evidence of Left Frontal Alpha Power, Parietal Activity, and Neural Flexibility in an Adapted Go/NoGo Paradigm

There is growing evidence to suggest that problematic social media use reflects a variety of neurocognitive profiles. This study examined differences in absolute alpha and beta spectral power using electroencephalography across three usage profiles: Compulsive Use Profile (CUP), Distress-Associated Profile (DAP) and Functional Profile (FP), derived from a prior cluster analysis. Activity was recorded during three experimental phases: baseline rest, an adapted Go/NoGo task with social media stimuli, and recovery. A 32-channel EEG was recorded from 42 young adults (x¯ = 19.62 years) during the 3 phases mentioned. Absolute spectral power (Welch method) was calculated for the alpha and beta bands in frontal and parietal regions. Mixed ANOVAs, Mann–Whitney U pairwise comparisons and Friedman tests were performed to assess neural modulation. A cluster effect approaching, but not reaching, conventional significance was found for left frontal alpha power (p = 0.057); a direct test of the Profile × Phase interaction for this variable was not significant (p = 0.837), indicating this trend was not specific to any one experimental phase. Pairwise comparisons revealed that the CUP showed significantly lower left frontal alpha power than the FP during the task phase (p = 0.012), with no differences at rest or during recovery. The DAP group showed lower left parietal alpha power during the task (p = 0.036) and lower right parietal alpha power at rest (p = 0.034) compared with the FP group. Only the FP group exhibited significant modulation of alpha power (neural flexibility) across phases (p = 0.035). Problematic social media use is not a uniform phenomenon. The CUP and DAP show distinct neural patterns in the frontal cortex for compulsivity and in the parietal cortex for emotional vulnerability, supporting the use of differentiated neurocognitive models and the need for tailored clinical interventions.