Citation

Jones A, Hook M, Podduturi P, McKeen H, Beitzell E, Liss M. Pers. Individ. Dif. 2022; 185: e111284.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2022, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.paid.2021.111284

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Social media engagement has been inconsistently linked to depression and it is important to determine whether specific motivations for engagement are linked to depression and what the mechanisms may be. This study investigated five factors of mindfulness as potential mediators between behavioral, affective, and cognitive social media engagement and depression. Participants (between 17 and 24 years old) at a university or found through social media (Reddit, Facebook, and Instagram; N = 371) were given the Five Factor Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ), the Social Media Engagement Scale for Adolescents (SMES-A), and the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-8), which measured depression. The awareness facet of mindfulness significantly mediated the relationship between all three social media engagement subscales (behavioral, affective, and cognitive) and depression. Additionally, there was a significant mediation between the affective engagement subscale and depression by the nonjudge, nonreact, and describe facets of mindfulness. Our results suggest that mindfulness is an important mechanism of the relationship between social media engagement and depression. The implementation of mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) may be useful to help teach how to engage in social media mindfully and positively.

Language: en

Keywords

Depression; Mediation; Mindfulness; Social media engagement