Mental Health and Social Media. An Explorative Mediation Analysis about the Relationship between Social Media Use, Value Concepts, Fear of Missing out, Sociodemographic Variables, and Mental Health

Abstract

This exploratory study (n = 592, 79% female, 19% male, 2% diverse) examined various variables that could impact mental health regarding social media use, while depression was observed as a mediator for self-esteem. Low self-esteem can be predicted for adolescents and middle-aged adults who are single, have a low educational level, tend to fear of missing out, strive for modern materialistic values, have low life satisfaction, and tend toward depression while using social media for distraction. Social media should not be evaluated as fundamentally harmful to mental health, but only if the user already tends toward depressive thoughts.