Effects of social media use on depressive symptoms among Chinese university students: the mediating roles of self-esteem and social support

TL;DR

This study finds that increased social media use is linked to higher depression in Chinese university students, partly due to lower self-esteem and social support.

Contribution

The study identifies self-esteem as a stronger mediator than social support in the relationship between social media use and depressive symptoms.

Findings

Social media use is positively associated with depressive symptoms.

Self-esteem and social support mediate the relationship between social media use and depression.

Self-esteem has a stronger mediating effect than social support.

Abstract

Social media use is pervasive among university students and young adults; however, its psychological implications remain debated. This study examined whether self-esteem and perceived social support mediated the association between social media use and depressive tendency. A cluster sample of 635 Chinese undergraduates from universities in Guangdong Province was recruited, yielding 600 valid responses (97.7%). Participants completed standardized scales including the Bergen Social Media Addiction Scale, the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support, and the Zung Self-Rating Depression Scale. Structural equation modeling with 5,000 bootstrap resamples tested direct and indirect effects. Social media use was positively associated with depressive symptoms and negatively with self-esteem and social support. Both self-esteem and social support mediated this relationship, with stronger effects for self-esteem. Higher levels of social media use were associated with higher depressive symptoms, both directly and indirectly through reduced self-esteem and perceived social support, with self-esteem playing a stronger mediating role.

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