Rapid advances in communication technology have rendered the Internet indispensable to personal and social life. However, its widespread use has generated concerns. Research on issues associated with maladaptive Internet use has increased significantly in recent years, informing professional efforts to alleviate these problems (Baloğlu et al., 2020, Lee et al., 2016, Pan et al., 2020). Various terms have been coined to label maladaptive Internet use, such as addiction, problematic use, excessive use, and compulsive use (Lee et al., 2016, Sun et al., 2020). Notably, unlike Internet gaming disorder, which is cited as an emerging disorder in the latest version of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5-TR, American Psychiatric Association, 2022), and was included in the 11th Edition of the International Classification of Disease (ICD-11) as a full diagnosis (Billieux et al., 2021), less evidence has been found to define maladaptive use of Internet as a distinctive type of addictive disorder (Pan et al., 2020, Starcevic, 2010). Instead, several researchers use the term ‘problematic Internet use’ (PIU) as a broad term to describe Internet use that may imply presence of addiction or disorders (Mei et al., 2016, Panova and Carbonell, 2018, Shapira et al., 2003), but still differentiate from full diagnosed types of Internet use, such as gaming disorder. Although researchers agree on the existence of ‘PIU’, there is no universally accepted standardized definition in the field (Anderson et al., 2016). Based on previous experience, this article adopts the term PIU to refer to a maladaptive concern with generalized Internet, smartphone, or specific social media overuse that might cause suffering and/or impairment (Panova and Carbonell, 2018, Shapira et al., 2003).

Pan et al.’s (2020) meta-analysis of 113 studies across 31 nations found a high and rising prevalence of PIU (7.02 %, 95 % CI, 6.09 %–8.08 %). In addition, many studies have reported associations between PIU and poor mental health status, mainly depression and anxiety (Anderson et al., 2016, Balhara et al., 2019, Kuss and Lopez-Fernandez, 2016, Odgers and Jensen, 2020, Tokunaga, 2017), cognitive deficits (Ioannidis et al., 2019), and sleep problems (Lam, 2014). Given the increasing scale and adverse outcomes of PIU, researchers have sought to address the roots of PIU by examining its contributing factors. The Use and Gratification Theory (UGT), one of the most popular mass communication theories, has been applied frequently to examine the patterns of Internet or social media use and the pathways to the problematic use of them (Sun & Zhang, 2021). A review of Facebook addiction highlights the robust evidence supporting the explanatory ability of UGT for addiction (Ryan et al., 2014). Despite the extensive use of UGT in the field of PIU research, the overall advancememt and limitations in this domain remains indeterminate, as there is currently no comprehensive review or meta-analysis that summarizes the application of UGT in the broader context of PIU. The primary aim of this study is to comprehensively summarize the progress made in the application of UGT in understanding and investigating PIU.

Rooted in mass communication studies (Katz et al., 1973, Mehrad and Tajer, 2016, Rubin et al., 1985, Ruggiero, 2000), UGT has become a pivotal theoretical framework for understanding users’ motivations and patterns of media use and communication (Panova & Carbonell, 2018). Gratifications, the central concept of UGT, are conceptualized as ‘need satisfactions’ that are fulfilled when the user’s needs are met by a certain media source that matches their expectations (Katz et al., 1973). Media users actively seek specific media to satisfy their needs associated with a wide range of social and psychological states and conditions (Mehrad & Tajer, 2016). UGT offers a practical and generic framework for understanding PIU from a user’s perspective. Its audience-centric nature makes it particularly applicable to this personalized Internet era. In PIU research, UGT posits that users experience need gratification via specific social media use from initial goal-oriented actions. Gratifications may shape and reinforce a user’s cognitive and affective responses in uncontrolled ways and catalyze habits in a later stage (Brand et al., 2016, Brand et al., 2019, LaRose, 2011, Wegmann and Brand, 2019). In the long run, excessive or compulsive engagement in such habitual use can lead to addiction (Wegmann et al., 2022). Many studies applying UGT to examine PIU are social network site (SNS) specific (e.g., Facebook, Instagram); Facebook being one of the earliest and most studied sites (Marino et al., 2018). Ryan et al. (2014) summarized that this SNS could become addictive by providing gratifications for users’ needs for relationship maintenance, passing time, entertainment, and companionship.

However, studies using UGT to examine SNS other than Facebook report different gratifications. For example, research on video- and image-sharing SNS (e.g., Instagram) suggests that the use of these sites is primarily driven by the need for recognition and identification (Foroughi et al., 2021, Ponnusamy et al., 2020). Although these studies draw from the same UGT theoretical framework, their classification of gratifications appears distinct and confined to a specific type of platform, resulting in difficulty in drawing general conclusions.

Gratifications classification has remained unresolved since the development of UGT. Back in 1972, McQuail et al. (1972) classified the gratifications for using traditional media into diversion (i.e., escape from routine or problems, emotional release), personal relationships (i.e., companionship, social utility), personal identity (i.e., self-reference, reality exploration, value reinforces), and surveillance (i.e., information seeking). Subsequent discussion concerned the distinction between gratification sought and gratification obtained (Palmgreen et al., 1980). The former concerns the gratification users seek in future media use, which some researchers also refer to as motivation (Bae, 2018, Elhai et al., 2017); the latter concerns the gratifications users experience from past media use (Bae, 2018, Perse and Ferguson, 2000).

Later studies have gradually blurred the conceptual distinction between obtained and sought; the major focus remains on different characteristics of gratifications. Research in the 1990s identified content and process gratification when the Web emerged. Content gratification is experienced through acquiring information from media content and then applying it to practical matters, while process gratification comes from the pleasurable usage processes of random browsing and site navigation (Hoffman and Novak, 1996, Stafford et al., 2004, Swanson, 1992). Since the use of the Internet for interpersonal communication and social networking has become integral to social life, social gratifications, which refers to the satisfaction or fulfillment individuals derive from social interactions, connections, and relationships within internet context, have been added to the list of gratifications (Stafford et al., 2004). Later, Sundar and Limperos (2013) suggested that UGT researchers should consider the technology itself as a source of gratification since the affordance of modern media technology may provide a sense of gratification by allowing for agency-enhancement and community building (Sundar & Limperos, 2013). In recent UGT-based PIU studies, new types of gratification continue to emerge, such as coping, fantasy (Haberlin & Atkin, 2022) and social curiosity (Alzougool, 2018). Although identifying new areas of gratifications could strengthen the applicability of UGT, current findings and frameworks remain mixed.

Apart from the divergence of gratification types, the foundational concepts of UGT require clarification (Ruggiero, 2000). Existing studies tend to use motivation and gratification interchangeably (Khang et al., 2013, Wadsley et al., 2022). This issue requires attention. On the one hand, the notion of motivation might lead to the cognitive and affective elements of gratification, such as fulfillment and satisfaction, that are related to addiction tendencies being overlooked. On the other hand, a person’s initial motivation to use a particular communication medium may not always match the gratification derived from this media use (Palmgreen and Rayburn, 1985, Wegmann et al., 2022).

A systematic review and meta-analysis of UGT-based PIU studies is needed to clarify such ambiguity, build a comprehensive framework for understanding the relationship between gratification and PIU, and advance the development of UGT-based research. This study aimed to: 1) depicts the progress of the use of UGT in PIU research; 2) identifies the types of gratification studied in the PIU context; 3) examines the associations between different gratifications and PIU, and explores the potential moderators that may further explain observed variances, if applicable.