# How does digital social media facilitate sports rehabilitation? Evidence from psychological recovery pathways and platform stickiness

## TL;DR

Digital social media helps sports injury patients recover psychologically by providing support and activating mental mechanisms, which improves their rehabilitation success.

## Contribution

The study identifies specific psychological pathways and the moderating role of digital social media dependency in sports rehabilitation.

## Key findings

- DSM enhances psychological recovery through 'PIC → CSC → ERS' and 'SIF → PCSM → PRC' pathways.
- Psychological recovery significantly predicts rehabilitation success.
- Digital social media dependency strengthens the relationship between DSM use and psychological recovery.

## Abstract

This study aims to explore how DSM influences the PRS of sports injury rehabilitation patients through a chain mediation mechanism, and how it further affects PS. In addition, it examines the moderating role of individuals' DSDT within this pathway.

Questionnaire data were collected from 596 sports injury rehabilitation patients in China using a random sampling method. The measurement tools covered 10 psychological variables. A structural equation model was constructed using AMOS 26.0 to perform chain mediation analysis. Path coefficients were estimated using the Bootstrap method, and the moderating effect was tested with the PROCESS macro in SPSS.

The study found that DSM significantly enhances the PRS of individuals through two pathways: “PIC → CSC → ERS” and “SIF → PCSM → PRC.” The PRS further positively predicts PS. In addition, DSDT plays a significant positive moderating role between DSM use and PRS.

DSM plays a positive role in promoting the PRS of rehabilitation patients. It not only provides informational and social support but also activates cognitive and emotional mechanisms, ultimately enhancing PS. The study confirms the feasibility of DSM as an intervention tool in digital rehabilitation and highlights the importance of individual behavioral characteristics.