Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2022 Oct 19;19(20):13496.
doi: 10.3390/ijerph192013496.

Exploring the Associations between Social Media Addiction and Depression: Attentional Bias as a Mediator and Socio-Emotional Competence as a Moderator

Wen Xiao  1 , Jiaxin Peng  1 , Suqun Liao  1
Affiliations

Exploring the Associations between Social Media Addiction and Depression: Attentional Bias as a Mediator and Socio-Emotional Competence as a Moderator

Wen Xiao et al. Int J Environ Res Public Health. .

Abstract

Social media is used daily by a significant number of young people and can have an important influence on the well-being of its users. The aim of this study was to determine the motives for social media use among Chinese youth and whether social media addiction associates with depression. Another objective was to analyze possible mediating and moderating effects in explaining the association between social media addiction and depression. Participants were 1652 secondary school students (51.5% boys and 48.5% girls) aged 12-18 years in China. The results showed that attention bias mediated the association between social media addiction and depression when adolescents' socio-emotional competencies were low, but not as strong when their socio-emotional competencies were high. The findings not only provided theoretical support for preventing the negative effects of mobile social media addiction, but could also directly contribute to improving adolescents' quality of life.

Keywords: adolescents; anxiety; attentional bias; depression; mobile social media addiction; socio-emotional competencies.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
The proposed conceptual scheme.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Depression predicted by attention to positive information moderated by socio-emotional skills. +1 SD, one standard deviation above the mean; −1 SD, one standard deviation below the mean.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Depression predicted by attention to negative information moderated by socio-emotional skills. +1 SD, one standard deviation above the mean; −1 SD, one standard deviation below the mean.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. China Internet Network Information Center The 44th China Statistical Report on Internet Development. [(accessed on 7 August 2022)];2019 Available online: http://www.cac.gov.cn/2019-08/30/c_1124938750.htm.
    1. Whiting A., Williams D. Why People Use Social Media: A Uses and Gratifications Approach. Qual. Mark. Res. Int. J. 2013;16:362–369. doi: 10.1108/QMR-06-2013-0041. - DOI
    1. Clark J.L., Algoe S.B., Green M.C. Social Network Sites and Well-Being: The role of Social Connection. Curr. Dir. Psychol. Sci. 2018;27:32–37. doi: 10.1177/0963721417730833. - DOI
    1. Allen K.A., Ryan T., Gray D.L., McInerney D.M., Waters L. Social media use and social connectedness in adolescents: The positives and the potential pitfalls. Educ. Dev. Psychol. 2014;31:18–31. doi: 10.1017/edp.2014.2. - DOI
    1. Odgers C.L., Jensen M.R. Annual Research Review: Adolescent mental health in the digital age: Facts, fears, and future directions. J. Child Psychol. Psychiatry. 2020;61:336–348. doi: 10.1111/jcpp.13190. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources