Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40723054›Full record

ArticleChildren (Basel, Switzerland)2025

The Impact of Social Media Disorder, Family Functioning, and Community Social Disorder on Adolescents' Psychological Distress: The Mediating Role of Intolerance to Uncertainty.

Héctor Morillo-Sarto, Javier Torres-Vallejos, Pablo Usán, Juan Ramón Barrada, Joel Juarros-Basterretxea

Abstract read
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Article in Children (Basel, Switzerland), 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
5citing 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

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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

5 citing papers in PubMed.

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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

5 authors.

Héctor Morillo-SartoDepartment of Psychology and Sociology, Faculty of Education, Universidad de Zaragoza, 50009 Zaragoza, Spain.ORCID 0000-0002-9852-2776
Javier Torres-VallejosEscuela de Psicología, Facultad de Ciencias Sociales y Comunicaciones, Universidad Santo Tomas, Santiago 8370003, Chile.ORCID 0000-0002-4229-7768
Pablo UsánDepartment of Psychology and Sociology, Faculty of Education, Universidad de Zaragoza, 50009 Zaragoza, Spain.ORCID 0000-0003-3789-3781
Juan Ramón BarradaDepartment of Psychology and Sociology, Faculty of Education, Universidad de Zaragoza, 50009 Zaragoza, Spain.ORCID 0000-0001-6887-6277
Joel Juarros-BasterretxeaDepartment of Psychology and Sociology, Faculty of Education, Universidad de Zaragoza, 50009 Zaragoza, Spain.ORCID 0000-0002-7739-5421

Funding

MDPI - Invited article NA
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

BACKGROUND/

objectivesAdolescent levels of psychological distress are strongly influenced by community, individual, social, and family factors. Family functioning, social media use, and community disorder have shown high predictive value for psychological distress during this critical stage of development. However, these relationships are not always direct and are often mediated by individual-level variables, such as intolerance of uncertainty. Adolescent psychological well-being is not solely determined by contextual factors; the coping skills developed during this critical stage also play a significant role. Our study aims to analyze how these factors are directly and indirectly related by developing a predictive model of psychological distress in adolescents.

methodsThe study included 908 adolescents (46.9% female) aged between 14 and 21 years (M = 16.29, SD = 1.5). Participants completed self-administered questionnaires in a school setting. Structural equation modeling was used to estimate total, direct, and indirect effects.

resultsThe model showed a good fit to the data. Social media disorder and family functioning showed statistically significant direct and indirect effects on psychological distress. Social media disorder was associated with higher psychological distress, while positive family functioning was protective. Community social disorder was only indirectly linked to higher psychological distress through the increase of intolerance of uncertainty.

conclusionsIntolerance of uncertainty is a critical predictor of adolescent distress, often overlooked despite its significant mediating role. Direct effects of family functioning and social media use also strongly influence distress levels. Impaired family functioning and community disorder interact bidirectionally, creating a cycle that exacerbates distress. Adolescents in these contexts face compounded negative effects from these reinforcing environments.

Indexed as

adolescentcommunityfamily relationsintolerance of uncertaintypsychological distresssocial media

Identifiers

PMID40723054
PMCPMC12293092

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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.