ArticlePsicologia, reflexao e critica : revista semestral do Departamento de Psicologia da UFRGS2025
Mediating roles of self-esteem and positive childhood experiences in the relationship between problematic social media use and loneliness.
Article in Psicologia, reflexao e critica : revista semestral do Departamento de Psicologia da UFRGS, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers.
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Who cites it
8 citing papers in PubMed.
- Problematic Social Media Use and Its Associations with Loneliness, Bullying Perpetration, and Negative Body Image Among Adolescents: The Mediating Roles of Secure Attachment and Resilience.Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Adverse Childhood Experiences and Mental Health Among Adolescents, Young Adults, and Adults: Mediating Roles of Positive Childhood Experiences and Resilience.The Psychiatric quarterly · 2026Article
- The shadow of parental phubbing on adolescents' psychological adjustment: roles of problematic social media use and social support.BMC psychology · 2026Article
- Poor sleep quality and loneliness among higher vocational college students: a conditional process analysis of psychological resilience and self-esteem.Frontiers in psychology · 2026Article
- Problematic social networking use and loneliness among college students: a serial mediation model of basic psychological need satisfaction and self-acceptance.Frontiers in psychology · 2026Article
- The impact of social media use on college students' mental health: a narrative review.Frontiers in public health · 2026Review
- The association between relative deprivation and cyber-ostracism: the mediating role of social emotions and the moderating role of self-esteem.Frontiers in psychology · 2026Article
- Psychometric properties of the smartphone distraction scale in arabic among lebanese young adults.Health psychology and behavioral medicine · 2026Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundProblematic social media use has been linked to increased loneliness among university students, yet the mechanisms underlying this relationship remain unclear.
objectiveThe study examines the mediating roles of self-esteem and positive childhood experiences in the relationship between problematic social media use and loneliness among university students.
methodsA total of 464 university students aged 18 to 28 years (M = 22.71, SD = 2.71; 58% women) participated in the study. Data were collected via an online survey using standardized measures of positive childhood experiences, social media addiction, self-esteem, and loneliness.
resultsThe findings revealed a significant positive relationship between problematic social media use and loneliness, as well as significant negative associations between problematic social media use and both self-esteem and positive childhood experiences. Mediation analyses indicated that problematic social media use significantly predicted loneliness, accounting for 6% of its variance, while the combined influence of problematic social media use, self-esteem, and positive childhood experiences explained 37% of the variance in loneliness. Notably, both self-esteem and positive childhood experiences partially mediated the relationship between problematic social media use and loneliness.
conclusionThis study provides important evidence for designing and implementing interventions that aim to enhance self-esteem and foster positive childhood experiences to mitigate the negative effects of problematic social media use on loneliness.
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