ArticleScientific reports2025
The moderating roles of social comparison in the relationship between Instagram reels use and mental health outcomes: a cross-sectional study in Oman.
Article in Scientific reports, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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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.
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Who cites it
1 citing paper in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Association Between Short-Form Video Use and Mental Health: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Journal of medical Internet research · 2026Pooled it
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Authors and funding
8 authors.
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Abstract
This study tested whether upward social comparison moderates the link between Instagram Reels use and mental health. In a cross‑sectional online survey of 2,285 adults in Oman (mean age 22.6 years; 76.5% female), participants completed Arabic versions of validated anxiety, well-being and social comparison scores. Hierarchical regressions (controlling for age and gender) showed that greater Reels engagement was associated with higher anxiety and lower well‑being. Social comparison moderated the Reels-anxiety association, adding a very small amount of explained variance (ΔR² ≈ 0.002); no moderation was detected for well‑being. Female participants reported higher anxiety. These findings suggest that algorithmic, visually curated feeds coupled with upward comparison may elevate anxiety. Implications include integrating brief social‑media comparison checks into clinical encounters, and culturally tailored media‑literacy efforts to reduce exposure to highly idealised content and promote healthier engagement.
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