A social media and substance use among the youth: a test of two mediation mechanisms

Abstract

This paper is aimed at testing the direct and indirect connections of social media use with substance use (smoking and drinking alcohol). It was hypothesized that one direct and two mediation mechanisms existed: the social comparison hypothesis (perception of financial deprivation) and hedonistic behaviour hypothesis. Both hypotheses were tested with a research sample of young people aged 15-30 in Croatia (N = 481) during 2020 as part of a European Social Fund project. The proposed models were analysed by means of structural equation modelling in order to test the research hypotheses. The results showed that social media use was neither directly connected to substance use (smoking and drinking) nor indirectly connected through financial deprivation, but was indirectly connected through the hedonistic use of leisure time mediation path. Financial deprivation was also directly connected to substance use, while gender was indirectly connected through the hedonistic use of leisure time. Based on the study results, the authors call for a more nuanced research of social media effects.