Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40189726›Full record

ArticleDiscover mental health2025

Mediating effect of depression between problematic social media use and body dysmorphic concerns in adolescents.

Sarah El Hayek, Sahar Obeid, Rima Kazan, Souheil Hallit, Feten Fekih-Romdhane, Georges Haddad

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Article in Discover mental health, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

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.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors.

Sarah El Hayek *School of Medicine and Medical Sciences, Holy Spirit University of Kaslik, P.O. Box 446, Jounieh, Lebanon. sarah.n.elhayek@net.usek.edu.lb.
Sahar ObeidSchool of Arts and Sciences, Department of Psychology and Education, Lebanese American University, Jbeil, Lebanon.
Rima KazanSchool of Medicine and Medical Sciences, Holy Spirit University of Kaslik, P.O. Box 446, Jounieh, Lebanon.
Souheil HallitSchool of Medicine and Medical Sciences, Holy Spirit University of Kaslik, P.O. Box 446, Jounieh, Lebanon. souheilhallit@usek.edu.lb.
Feten Fekih-Romdhane *The Tunisian Center of Early Intervention in Psychosis, Department of Psychiatry "Ibn Omrane", Razi Hospital, 2010, Manouba, Tunisia.
Georges HaddadSchool of Medicine and Medical Sciences, Holy Spirit University of Kaslik, P.O. Box 446, Jounieh, Lebanon.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundAdolescence is a critical period during which there is a concerning rise in the incidence of mental health problems, including depression and body dysmorphic concerns symptoms, as well as addictive behaviors such as problematic social media use. The objective of this research is to examine the role of depression as a mediator between problematic social media use and body dysmorphic concerns.

methodsThis study used a cross-sectional design and recruited a total of 336 Lebanese adolescents, aged 15 to 18, with an average age of 15.69 ± 1.10 years and 63.4% of them being female, from all governorates of Lebanon between the months of December 2023 and January 2024. The statistical analysis was performed utilizing version 25 of the SPSS program. Two categorical variables were compared using the Chi-square test, and two means were examined using the Student t test. Model 4 of the PROCESS MACRO, an add-on for SPSS, was utilized to conduct the mediation analysis.

resultsAfter adjusting for age and sex, depression was found to partially mediate the association between problematic social media use and body dysmorphic concerns (indirect effect: Beta = .48; Boot SE = .08; Boot CI .33; .65). Higher PSMU was significantly associated with more depression and directly associated with more body dysmorphic concerns.

conclusionThis study has shown, for the first time that depression may act as a mediator in the relationship between problematic social media use and Body dysmorphic disorder. Recognizing this malleable factor as a mediator might provide new understanding for psychiatric therapies conducted on persons who are likely to display signs of dysmorphia when they utilize social media in an addictive pattern.

Indexed as

AdolescenceBody dysmorphic concernsDepressionMediationProblematic social media use

Identifiers

PMID40189726
PMCPMC11973002

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.