Maladaptive daydreaming, hypersexuality, and social media use: Testing narcissism as a mediator in a young adult online sample

Maladaptive daydreaming (MD) is a recently defined clinical condition characterized by an excessively immersive use of fantasy and imagination, which can significantly impact both professional and social life. MD shares functional characteristics with behavioral addictions (e.g., problematic social media use and hypersexuality) that may stem from underlying narcissistic personality functioning. Therefore, the primary aim of this study is to examine whether higher levels of MD are associated with higher levels of hypersexual behavior and/or social network addiction. A further aim is to explore if pathological narcissism is associated with MD and to the two behavioral addictions. Additionally, we aim to investigate the role of narcissism in partially mediating the associations between MD and the two behavioral addictions, respectively. In a cross-sectional online sample of 559 adults (M = 27.16, SD = 10.21, 68% women), MD was moderately associated with hypersexual behavior (r = .40, 95% CI [0.33, 0.47]), problematic social media use (r = .28, 95% CI [0.20, 0.36]), and narcissism (r = .40, 95% CI [0.33, 0.47]. Path analyses using bootstrapped indirect effects indicated that narcissism partially mediated both associations (indirect bs ≈ .33–.38, 95% CIs [0.22, 0.46] and [0.26, 0.52]). The models accounted for 19%–24% of the variance in MD (R²= .19 and .24, p < .001). The associations observed in this study support a link between addictive behaviors and MD, with narcissistic functioning appearing to play a significant role as a common underlying mechanism. A psychological intervention focusing on narcissistic vulnerabilities and addictive behaviors may be important, especially in the young adult population, to prevent the development of chronicity.