From Problematic Social Media Use to Depressive Symptoms Among University Students: A Second-Stage Moderated Mediation Model of Loneliness and Self-Compassion

Abstract

This study aimed to examine the relationships between problematic social media use and depressive symptoms among university students, to test the mediating role of loneliness in this relationship, and to test the moderating role of self-compassion in the second stage of mediation (loneliness → depression). The study adopted a quantitative cross-sectional correlational-predictive explanatory design and was applied to a stratified random sample of 3,000 male and female students. Four instruments were used: the Social Media Disorder Test (SMDT) consisting of four items, the De Jong Gierveld Loneliness Scale – Short Form (DJGLS-6) consisting of six items, the Self-Compassion Scale – Short Form (SCS-SF) consisting of twelve items, and the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) consisting of nine items. The factorial structure of each instrument was verified independently using confirmatory factor analysis, and then the structural model was tested using observed-variable path analysis within the structural equation modeling framework in AMOS, with the four variables standardized into Z-scores before testing the paths. The results showed acceptable fit for each instrument separately, and positive and statistically significant predictive paths from problematic social media use to loneliness, and from loneliness to depressive symptoms. The results also showed a statistically significant partial mediation of loneliness in the relationship between problematic social media use and depressive symptoms, and a statistically significant moderating effect of self-compassion in the second path of mediation (loneliness → depression), such that the indirect effect of problematic social media use on depressive symptoms through loneliness was weaker among students with higher self-compassion.