ArticleFrontiers in psychiatry2023
Social media addiction as a mediator of the associations between fear of COVID-19, mental health symptoms, and problematic alcohol use.
Article in Frontiers in psychiatry, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
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Who cites it
2 citing papers in PubMed, 6 citations in OpenAlex.
- Social Media Use Trajectories and Substance Use Experimentation: A Prospective Cohort Study.The American journal of psychiatry · 2026Article
- Disparities in group-based medical mistrust and associations with mental health symptoms during the COVID-19 pandemic.Journal of affective disorders · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
8 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
Background: Fear of COVID-19 is a risk factor for anxiety and depressive symptoms. During the COVID-19 pandemic, drinking to cope with psychological distress has been proposed as a key mechanism leading to problematic drinking. The goal of this study was to test social media addiction as a mediator linking fear of COVID-19 to mental health symptoms and problematic alcohol use. Methods: In between April 6 and July 2 of 2022, 250 participants completed an online survey as part of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism COVID-19 Pandemic Impact on Alcohol Study. Path analyses were conducted to test the mediational pathways. Results: Using the polythetic classification scheme, 13.2% ( Conclusion: Social media addiction may be a maladaptive coping mechanism that individuals with high fear of COVID-19 utilized to deal with uncertainty and perceived risks during the pandemic. Findings underscore the need to examine cognitions related to fear of COVID-19 and address excessive social media use in the context of mental health and alcohol interventions.
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Registered trials
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