Social Networking Sites Addiction and Materialism Among Chinese Adolescents: A Moderated Mediation Model Involving Depression and Need to Belong.

Pengcheng Wang,Biao Li,Li Lei,Guoliang Yu

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2020.581274

Abstract

Recent research indicates that social networking site (SNS) addiction is positively associated with materialism. However, little attention has been paid to the potential mechanisms in this relationship. This study tested the mediating role of depression and the moderating role of need to belong (NTB) in the relationships between SNS addiction and adolescents’ materialism. This research model was tested among 733 adolescents in China (mean age = 16.79 years, SD = 0.91). The findings indicated that both SNS addiction and NTB were positively related to adolescents’ materialism. Mediation analyses showed that depression mediated the association between SNS addiction and adolescents’ materialism. Moderated mediation indicated that the effect of SNS addiction on materialism and the effect of SNS addiction on depression were exacerbated by NTB. This study can advance our understanding of how SNS could contribute to adolescents’ materialism in this digital society.

Highlights

Social networking sites (SNSs) have become irreplaceable in adolescents’ daily life (Kuss and Griffiths, 2011)
social networking site (SNS) addiction was positively related to materialism, depression, and need to belong (NTB)
Our study shows that SNS addiction is positively linked to adolescents’ materialism, which can provide us with a more comprehensive understanding of why adolescents are becoming more materialistic in this digital society

Summary

Introduction

Social networking sites (SNSs) have become irreplaceable in adolescents’ daily life (Kuss and Griffiths, 2011). SNS users may experience symptoms of addictions that were traditionally related to substance use (Kuss and Griffiths, 2011). SNS addiction, known as overuse of SNS or problematic SNS use, is garnering increasing academic attention given its adverse effects. SNS addiction could undermine personal well-being, damages academic performance, and leads to interpersonal conflicts (Kuss and Griffiths, 2011; Wang et al, 2017, 2018c; Yin et al, 2019). Recent empirical research has related SNS addiction to materialism (Sharif and Khanekharab, 2017)

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