What Explains the Association between Usage of Social Networking Sites (SNS) and Depression Symptoms? The Mediating Roles of Self-Esteem and Fear of Missing Out.

Angel Nga Man Leung,Yvonne Yiqing Liang,Cheng Li,Henry Kin Shing Ng,Wilbert Law,Antony Chun Lam Au

doi:10.3390/ijerph18083916

Abstract

The goal of the study was to understand the mechanisms of how social networking sites (SNS) usage is related to depression symptoms, as measured by the Center for Epidemiological Studies-Depression Scale (CESD). Three studies were conducted to examine the mediation roles of self-esteem and Fear of Missing Out (FoMO). In Study 1, among 347 Chinese college students, time spent on SNS was negatively associated with self-esteem; while self-esteem then negatively associated with depression symptoms. In Study 2, among 180 Chinese college students, time spent on SNS was positively related to FoMO; while FoMO then positively related to depression symptoms. In Study 3, among 233 Chinese university students, both self-esteem and FoMO were simultaneously included in the mediation model to test their respective roles in explaining depression symptoms. Results showed that more time spent on SNS was related to lower self-esteem, and higher FoMO, respectively; while self-esteem then negatively, and FoMO then positively, explained depression symptoms, respectively. In addition, when participants spent 3.5 h (Study 1), 2.5 h (Study 2), and 2.54 h (Study 3) on SNS, they reached the cutoff for subthreshold depression, as measured by CESD. Combining results from three studies, both self-esteem and FoMO mediated the relation between SNS usage and depression symptoms. This study provides implications to understand the mechanism of SNS-related depression.

Highlights

The results of the analyses using PROCESS Model 4 showed that time spent on Social networking sites (SNS) was significantly related to higher fear of missing out (FoMO) (B = 0.08, SE = 0.02, t(176) = 3.57, p < 0.001), FoMO was positively associated with depression (B = 8.56, SE = 0.76, t(175) = 11.25, p < 0.001) (Figure 2)
In Study 2, we found that FoMO mediated SNS usage and depression
The results of the analyses using PROCESS Model 4 showed that time spent on SNS was significantly related to higher FoMO (B = 0.08, SE = 0.03, t(225) = 2.67, p = 0.008), FoMO was positively associated with depression (B = 2.14, SE = 0.71, t(223) = 3.00, p = 0.003)

Summary

Introduction

A couple of mediation research suggested several factors in explaining the relations between SNS usage and psychological well-being [3,4] Another recent systematic review which studied social media addiction and well-being suggested that the term well-being should be differentiated into positive vs negative well-being [5]. Results of this systematic review suggested that negative well-being correlated with addiction scales highly, while other well-being scales had a smaller or no correlation with social media addiction. It is worth investigating the relation between SNS usage and negative well-being such as depression symptoms.

Objectives

Methods

Results

Conclusion