ArticlePsychology research and behavior management2024
The Impact of Mobile Social Media Use on Depressive Mood Among College Students: A Chain Mediating Effect of Upward Social Comparison and Cognitive Overload.
Article in Psychology research and behavior management, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 10 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
10 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Examining the mediating roles of self-esteem and social support in the link between digital addiction and mental health: findings from a meta-analytic structural equation modeling study.Frontiers in public health · 2026Pooled it
- Investigating the mediating roles of psychological resilience and digital addiction in the relationship between emotional intelligence and mental health: a meta-analytic structural equation modeling approach.Frontiers in psychology · 2026Pooled it
- National identity and social connectedness among Chinese college students with disabilities: examining the multiple mediating roles of social media use motives and use diversity.BMC psychology · 2026Article
- Online authentic self-presentation, relatedness need satisfaction, and depression among university students: the moderating role of perceived value of team sports participation in a survey of universities in Shanghai.Frontiers in psychology · 2026Article
- Social Media Use Intensity and Social Media Use Problems in Relation to Interpersonal Adaptation During the Transition to College: An Intensive Longitudinal Study.Journal of youth and adolescence · 2026Article
- Time Spent on Social Media Applications in Relation to Depressive Symptoms During Emerging Adulthood and the Mediating Role of Sleep Quality: Cross-Sectional Observational Study.Journal of medical Internet research · 2025Observational
- Sleep Disturbance as a Mediator Between Problematic Social Media Use and Depressive Symptoms Among Mexican Undergraduate Nursing Students: A Multicenter Study.European journal of investigation in health, psychology and education · 2025Article
- A Scoping Review of the Use and Determinants of Social Media Among College Students.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- The Influence of Perceived Crowdedness on Aggressive Behavior: A Moderated Mediation Model.Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Social Media and Mental Health: Lessons Learned from the Psychology Research and Behavior Management Article Collection.Psychology research and behavior management · 2025Article
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Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
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Abstract
Background: The 18-24 age group has a much higher rate of depression risk than other age groups, and this age group has the highest proportion among users of mobile social media. The relationship between the use of mobile social media and depressive mood is inconsistent and the mechanism of action is controversial. Purpose: This study explored the relationship among the intensity of social media use, upward social comparison, cognitive overload and depressive mood. Methods: In this research, we used the Brief Self-rating Depression Scale (PHQ-9), the Social Media Usage Intensity Questionnaire, the Social Comparison Scale on Social Networking Sites and the Social Networking Site Cognitive Overload Scale to investigate the depressive mood and mobile social media use of 568 college students. Results: The intensity of mobile social media use, social networking site upward social comparison, and social networking site cognitive overload are all positively correlated with depressive mood. The intensity of mobile social media use has a positive predictive effect on depressive mood, with upward social comparison and cognitive overload acting as independent mediators in the relationship between mobile social media use intensity and depressive symptoms, as well as exhibiting a chained mediating effect of upward social comparison-cognitive overload. Conclusion: The upward social comparison and cognitive load that occur during the use of mobile social media are important predictive factors for the occurrence of depressive mood. This study is a supplement to the mechanism of the relationship between mobile social media use and depression, providing more evidence-based evidence and intervention directions for university teachers, mobile social media developers, and psychologists.
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