Mindfulness as a Mediator in the Relationship Between Social Media Engagement and Depression in Young Adults
Mindfulness as a Mediator in the Relationship Between Social Media Engagement and Depression in Young Adults
Article Information
Authors: Amelia Jones, Megan Hook, Purnaja Podduturi, Haley McKeen, Emily Beitzell, Miriam Liss
Affiliation: University of Mary Washington, United States of America
Keywords: Social media engagement, Mindfulness, Depression, Mediation
Abstract
Issue: Social media engagement has an inconsistent link to depression, prompting investigations into motivations for engagement and underlying mechanisms.
Study Focus: Evaluated five mindfulness facets as mediators between different types of social media engagement (behavioral, affective, cognitive) and depression.
Participants: 371 young adults (ages 17-24) from a university and social media platforms (Reddit, Facebook, Instagram).
Measurements:
Five Factor Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ)
Social Media Engagement Scale for Adolescents (SMES-A)
Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-8) for depression measurement.
Findings:
Awareness facet of mindfulness significantly mediated all three subscales of social media engagement and depression.
Other facets (nonjudge, nonreact, describe) mediated the relationship between affective engagement and depression.
Conclusion: Mindfulness is a crucial mechanism in moderating how social media engagement affects depression. Mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) are suggested to promote healthy social media usage.
Introduction
Concern: Growing public awareness of the negative psychological impacts of social media, specifically depression (Twenge et al., 2017).
Research Complexity: Prior studies show mixed results regarding social media's relationship with depression; some reveal a direct link while others highlight the importance of the quality of interactions over quantity.
Significant Studies:
Hunt et al. (2018): Reduced social media use linked to lower depression.
Seabrook et al. (2016): Meta-analysis indicating varying relationships based on the quality of social media interactions.
Orben & Przybylski (2019): No relationship found between screen time and adolescent well-being.
Motivations for Engagement:
Behavioral: Habitual use, relaxation.
Cognitive: Connecting with friends and feeling support.
Affective: Positive emotions during usage.
Motivational differences regarding how social media is engaged with could potentially influence depression, necessitating thorough investigation.
Mechanisms of Social Media Use Leading to Depression
Investigated Factors: Fear of missing out (FOMO) and social comparison (Dempsey et al., 2019; Reer et al., 2019).
Dempsey et al. (2019): Facebook use not linked to depression; Facebook addiction linked via FOMO.
Reer et al. (2019): Social comparison and FOMO mediated reduced well-being and social media engagement.
Mindfulness as a Mediator
Definition: Mindfulness encompasses awareness of one’s environment while maintaining a nonjudgmental attitude towards thoughts and sensations (Keng et al., 2011).
Benefits: Linked to lower depression and enhanced well-being (Kircaburun et al., 2019).
Proposed Pathway: High social media engagement may undermine mindfulness, fostering self-judgment and depression, as indicated by FOMO correlations (Baker et al., 2016).
Limited research links low mindfulness as a predictor for compulsive social media use, emphasizing a need to investigate mindfulness as a mediating variable.
Five Facets of Mindfulness (FFMQ):
Nonreact
Describe
Observe
Nonjudge
Aware
The research aims to explore which specific mindfulness facets mediate the relationships explored and understand their effects on social media engagement and depression.
Method
1. Participants
Sample Size Goal: 400 participants (minimum required for power = 0.8 [Fritz & Mackinnon, 2007]).
Recruitment Method:
Public liberal arts college psychology participant pool (N=271).
Supplemented by social media outreach (Facebook, Instagram, Reddit; N=100).
Final Sample: 371 participants; average age 19.33 (SD = 1.59).
Demographics:
Racial/Ethnic Composition: 71.7% White, 8.6% Latinx, 7.5% African American/Black, 5.7% Multiracial.
Gender Distribution: 78.7% female, 18.6% male, 2.2% other.
2. Procedures and Measures
Survey Platform: Qualtrics for an anonymous online survey.
Mindfulness Assessment: FFMQ, 39-item scale, rated 1 (never true) to 5 (always true). Example items include:
Nonreact: "I can notice distressing thoughts without reacting."
Aware: "I do tasks automatically without awareness (reverse-coded)."
Reliability Scores for FFMQ in Original Study:
Nonreact (α = 0.75), Observe (α = 0.83), Aware (α = 0.87), Describe (α = 0.91), Nonjudge (α = 0.87).
Current Study Reliability Scores: Nonreact (α = 0.76), Observe (α = 0.71), Aware (α = 0.87), Describe (α = 0.90), Nonjudge (α = 0.91).
Social Media Engagement Assessment: SMES-A, 11-item measure across three subscales:
Affective Engagement: e.g., "I feel bored when I can't use social media."
Behavioral Engagement: e.g., "Using social media is my daily habit."
Cognitive Engagement: e.g., "Support from others on social media is important to me."
Reliability Scores:
Affective (α = 0.80), Behavioral (α = 0.87), Cognitive (α = 0.71).
Depression Measurement: Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-8), assesses depressive symptoms rated from 0 (not at all) to 3 (nearly every day). Example items include: "Feeling down or hopeless?" and "Trouble concentrating?"
High reliability (α = 0.90).
Results
Descriptive Statistics:
Mean depression score (PHQ-8): 9.12 (SD = 6.70).
Depression Categories:
Minimal (30.3%), Mild (28.7%), Moderate (19.5%), Moderately Severe (10.8%), Severe (10.6%).
Correlations:
Behavioral and Cognitive SMES-A subscales negatively correlated only with the Awareness facet of mindfulness.
Affective engagement negatively correlated with Awareness, Nonjudgement, Describe, and Nonreactivity facets.
Positive correlation: behavioral and affective SMES-A subscales with depression, except for the observe facet.
Mediation Analyses:
Awareness facet mediated relationships for all SMES-A subscales and depression, explaining variance in depression scores (F(2, 366) = 107.26, p < .001 for both behavioral and cognitive engagement).
Nonjudgment and Nonreactivity also mediated the relationship between Affective Engagement and depression (explained variance = 31.28% and 12.01%, respectively).
Key Findings: Awareness facet consistently mediates social media engagement and depression pathways, highlighting the critical role of mindful awareness in understanding these relationships.
Discussion
Main Objective: To explore mindfulness mediation between social media engagement and depression.
Support for Hypothesis: Mindful awareness acts as a mediator across all engagement facets and depression.
Role of Affective Engagement: Engaging in social media for emotion management correlated with reduced nonreactivity and increased nonjudgment, raising concerns regarding emotional coping strategies and subsequent depressive outcomes.
Social Media Emotional Support: The inconvenience of social media interactions on emotional articulation and deeper conversations is noted, potentially fostering alexithymia, exacerbating depressive symptoms.
Mindfulness as a Mediator in the Relationship Between Social Media Engagement and Depression in Young Adults
Article Information
Authors: Amelia Jones, Megan Hook, Purnaja Podduturi, Haley McKeen, Emily Beitzell, Miriam Liss
Affiliation: University of Mary Washington, United States of America
Keywords: Social media engagement, Mindfulness, Depression, Mediation
Abstract
Issue: The relationship between social media engagement and depression has been demonstrated to be inconsistent across various studies, suggesting a need to investigate the motivations behind engagement and the underlying psychological mechanisms at play.
Study Focus: This research specifically evaluated five distinct facets of mindfulness, as defined by the Five Factor Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ), to determine their potential role as mediators between different dimensions of social media engagement (behavioral, affective, cognitive) and levels of depression.
Participants: A total of 371 young adults, ranging in age from 17 to 24, were recruited for the study. Participants were drawn from a university setting and also through outreach on popular social media platforms such as Reddit, Facebook, and Instagram.
Measurements:
The Five Factor Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ) was used to assess mindfulness.
The Social Media Engagement Scale for Adolescents (SMES-A) was utilized to quantify different types of social media engagement.
The Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-8) was employed as a robust measure for depression symptoms.
Findings:
The Awareness facet of mindfulness emerged as a significant mediator across all three identified subscales of social media engagement (behavioral, affective, and cognitive) in relation to depression. This indicates that a greater level of mindful awareness can buffer the potential negative effects of social media engagement on depressive symptoms.
Furthermore, other mindfulness facets—specifically Nonjudgment, Nonreact, and Describe—were found to mediate the relationship exclusively between affective engagement (engaging for emotional reasons or habitual use) and depression.
Conclusion: The study rigorously concludes that mindfulness acts as a crucial intervening mechanism in comprehending how social media engagement influences depressive symptoms. The findings strongly suggest the integration of Mindfulness-Based Interventions (MBIs) as a proactive strategy to foster healthier patterns of social media usage among young adults and mitigate associated psychological risks.
Introduction
Concern: There is a heightened and growing public awareness regarding the potential negative psychological impacts of social media, with depression frequently cited as a significant repercussion (Twenge et al., 2017). This concern is driven by extensive media coverage and anecdotal evidence.
Research Complexity: Prior academic studies have yielded mixed and often contradictory results concerning the direct relationship between social media use and depression. Some research identifies a direct correlational or causal link, while other investigations emphasize that the quality of interactions and individual predispositions are more influential than the sheer quantity of time spent online.
Significant Studies:
Hunt et al. (2018): Demonstrated a direct link between reduced social media use and statistically lower levels of depression, suggesting potential benefits of digital detoxes.
Seabrook et al. (2016): A comprehensive meta-analysis indicated that the relationship between social media and depression is highly variable, largely dependent on the specific nature and quality of social media interactions (e.g., passive consumption vs. active engagement).
Orben & Przybylski (2019): Challenged direct causal links, finding no significant relationship between daily screen time metrics and adolescent well-being, highlighting the need for more nuanced research.
Motivations for Engagement: Individuals engage with social media for diverse reasons, which can be broadly categorized:
Behavioral Engagement: This pertains to habitual, often automatic use (e.g., checking feeds out of routine or for relaxation, often without a specific goal).
Cognitive Engagement: This involves using social media for purposeful interaction, such as connecting with friends, seeking information, or feeling a sense of support and belonging from online communities.
Affective Engagement: This relates to the emotional gratification derived from social media use, such as experiencing positive emotions, alleviating boredom, or mood regulation during usage.
Motivational differences regarding how social media is engaged with could potentially influence depression outcomes. For instance, engaging out of habit or for emotional relief might have different consequences than engaging for social support, necessitating thorough investigation into these varied pathways.
Mechanisms of Social Media Use Leading to Depression
Investigated Factors: Key mechanisms proposed to link social media engagement with depressive symptoms include Fear of Missing Out (FOMO) and social comparison, both of which are common experiences on social platforms (Dempsey et al., 2019; Reer et al., 2019).
Fear of Missing Out (FOMO): Defined as the apprehension that one might miss rewarding experiences that others are having, often perpetuated by social media feeds showcasing others' idealized lives. This can lead to increased social media checking, anxiety, and feelings of inadequacy.
Social Comparison: The tendency to evaluate one's own worth, abilities, or situation by comparing oneself to others. On social media, this often involves upward comparison (comparing to those perceived as better off), which can decrease self-esteem and foster envy or dissatisfaction.
Dempsey et al. (2019): Found that while general Facebook use itself was not directly linked to depression, Facebook addiction mediated this relationship, primarily through the role of FOMO. This suggests that compulsive use, driven by FOMO, is the problematic factor.
Reer et al. (2019): Demonstrated that both social comparison and FOMO served as significant mediators between high social media engagement and reduced well-being, indicating that these cognitive processes translate engagement into negative psychological states.
Mindfulness as a Mediator
Definition: Mindfulness is a multi-faceted construct that fundamentally involves paying attention, on purpose, to the present moment, without judgment, to the unfolding of experience moment by moment (Keng et al., 2011). It encompasses a conscious awareness of one’s internal and external environment (thoughts, sensations, emotions, and surroundings) while actively maintaining a nonjudgmental and accepting attitude towards these experiences.
Benefits: Beyond merely reducing depression, mindfulness practices are widely linked to a spectrum of psychological benefits including enhanced well-being, improved emotional regulation, reduced stress and anxiety, and greater self-compassion (Kircaburun etg al., 2019). It empowers individuals to respond to situations thoughtfully rather than reactively.
Proposed Pathway: It is hypothesized that high, often unmindful, social media engagement may subtly undermine an individual's capacity for mindfulness. This can lead to a reduced ability to stay present, an increased tendency towards self-judgment (especially through social comparison), and subsequently, heightened vulnerability to depression. The strong correlation between FOMO and mindfulness highlights this, as individuals with lower mindfulness may be more susceptible to the anxieties associated with missing out (Baker et al., 2016).
Limited research has directly investigated low mindfulness as a predictor for compulsive social media use or as a mediating variable between social media use and depression. This gap underscores a critical need to explore mindfulness as a mediating factor, shedding light on the underlying psychological processes.
Five Facets of Mindfulness (FFMQ): Developed by Baer et al. (2006), these facets provide a comprehensive understanding of mindfulness:
Nonreact: Refers to the tendency to allow thoughts and feelings to come and go without getting caught up in them or reacting impulsively.
Describe: The ability to label or describe internal experiences (thoughts, feelings, sensations) with words.
Observe: The capacity to notice or attend to internal and external experiences, such as sensations, perceptions, thoughts, and feelings.
Nonjudge: Involves taking a non-evaluative stance toward one's thoughts and feelings, accepting them without judgment.
Aware: Often interchangeably used with 'acting with awareness,' this facet captures the ability to attend to one's ongoing activities and experiences in the present moment rather than functioning on 'autopilot.'
The research aims to explore which specific mindfulness facets, rather than general mindfulness, mediate the relationships between types of social media engagement and depression, thereby offering a more granular understanding of their differential effects.
Method
1. Participants
Sample Size Goal: The study aimed to recruit 400 participants, calculating a minimum required sample size of approximately 270 (for power = 0.8; Fritz & Mackinnon, 2007). This ensures sufficient statistical power to detect meaningful effects.
Recruitment Method:
The primary recruitment channel was a psychology participant pool at a public liberal arts college, yielding 271 participants.
To augment the sample and increase diversity, an additional 100 participants were recruited through targeted social media outreach on platforms popular among young adults: Facebook, Instagram, and Reddit. This dual approach broadened the demographic reach.
Final Sample: The study ultimately included 371 participants. The average age of the sample was 19.33 years, with a standard deviation (SD) of 1.59 years, reflecting a relatively homogenous young adult group.
Demographics:
Racial/Ethnic Composition: The sample was predominantly White (71.7\%), with other significant groups including Latinx (8.6\%), African American/Black (7.5\%), and Multiracial (5.7\%). This composition reflects the demographic makeup of the primary recruitment institution.
Gender Distribution: The sample was heavily skewed towards females (78.7\%), with 18.6\% males and 2.2\% identifying as other genders. This uneven distribution is common in psychology studies relying on university participant pools and merits consideration when generalizing findings.
2. Procedures and Measures
Survey Platform: Data collection was facilitated using Qualtrics, a secure online survey platform, ensuring participant anonymity and data integrity throughout the process. All participants provided informed consent prior to beginning the survey.
Mindfulness Assessment: The Five Factor Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ) is a 39-item self-report scale designed to measure the five facets of mindfulness. Participants rated each item on a 5-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (never true) to 5 (always true). Example items include:
Nonreact: "I can notice distressing thoughts without reacting."
Aware: "I do tasks automatically without awareness (reverse-coded)."
Reliability Scores for FFMQ in Original Study:
Nonreact (\alpha = 0.75), Observe (\alpha = 0.83), Aware (\alpha = 0.87), Describe (\alpha = 0.91), Nonjudge (\alpha = 0.87).
Current Study Reliability Scores: Nonreact (\alpha = 0.76), Observe (\alpha = 0.71), Aware (\alpha = 0.87), Describe (\alpha = 0.90), Nonjudge (\alpha = 0.91).
Social Media Engagement Assessment: The SMES-A (Social Media Engagement Scale for Adolescents) is an 11-item measure designed to capture different dimensions of social media engagement across three distinct subscales. Example items provide clarity on what each subscale assesses:
Affective Engagement: e.g., "I feel bored when I can't use social media."
Behavioral Engagement: e.g., "Using social media is my daily habit."
Cognitive Engagement: e.g., "Support from others on social media is important to me."
Reliability Scores for SMES-A:
Affective (\alpha = 0.80), Behavioral (\alpha = 0.87), Cognitive (\alpha = 0.71).
Depression Measurement: The Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-8) was used to assess the severity of depressive symptoms. This 8-item scale asks participants to rate the frequency of various symptoms over the past two weeks, using a 4-point scale from 0 (not at all) to 3 (nearly every day). Example items include: "Feeling down or hopeless?" and "Trouble concentrating?" The PHQ-8 is a widely recognized and validated instrument for screening and monitoring depression.
It demonstrated high internal consistency in this study with a Cronbach's alpha (\alpha) of 0.90, indicating excellent reliability.
Results
Descriptive Statistics:
The mean depression score (measured by PHQ-8) for the sample was 9.12 (SD = 6.70), indicating a notable presence of depressive symptoms across the young adult participants.
Participants were categorized into different depression severity levels based on their PHQ-8 scores:
Minimal depression: 30.3\% of participants.
Mild depression: 28.7\% of participants.
Moderate depression: 19.5\% of participants.
Moderately severe depression: 10.8\% of participants.
Severe depression: 10.6\% of participants.
Correlations:
The Behavioral and Cognitive SMES-A subscales showed negative correlations exclusively with the Awareness facet of mindfulness. This suggests that higher engagement in these two types of social media use is associated with lower mindful awareness.
Affective engagement, however, exhibited broader negative correlations, associating with lower levels of Awareness, Nonjudgement, Describe, and Nonreactivity facets of mindfulness. This indicates that seeking emotional gratification or using social media out of habit may broadly undermine mindfulness capacities.
A positive correlation was observed between both behavioral and affective SMES-A subscales and depression, consistent with previous research suggesting a link between social media use and depressive symptoms. Interestingly, the observe facet of mindfulness was an exception, not showing this typical correlation pattern with social media engagement or depression.
Mediation Analyses:
The Awareness facet of mindfulness consistently mediated the relationships for all three SMES-A subscales (behavioral, affective, and cognitive) and depression. This facet significantly explained a substantial portion of the variance in depression scores (F(2, 366) = 107.26, p < .001 for both behavioral and cognitive engagement, and similarly for affective engagement). This reiterates the critical role of conscious and present-moment awareness in moderating the impact of social media on mental health.
Additionally, the Nonjudgment and Nonreactivity facets also played a significant mediating role, specifically in the relationship between Affective Engagement and depression. These facets explained 31.28\% and 12.01\% of the variance, respectively, suggesting that the ability to observe one's thoughts and emotions without judgment or impulsive reaction is particularly protective when social media is used for emotional regulation.
Key Findings: The awareness facet consistently emerged as a crucial mediator in all pathways linking social media engagement to depression. This highlights its central role in understanding and potentially mitigating the negative psychological outcomes associated with social media use.
Discussion
Main Objective: The primary objective of this study was to systematically explore the mediating role of various facets of mindfulness in the relationship between different types of social media engagement and depression in young adults.
Support for Hypothesis: The findings strongly supported the central hypothesis, demonstrating that mindful awareness acts as a significant and consistent mediator across all facets of social media engagement (behavioral, cognitive, and affective) and their associations with depression.
Role of Affective Engagement: Engaging in social media primarily for emotion management or habitual use (affective engagement) was specifically correlated with reduced nonreactivity and increased nonjudgment. This pattern raises significant concerns regarding individuals' emotional coping strategies and their potential to lead to adverse depressive outcomes. It suggests that using social media as a primary means to regulate emotions might impede the development of healthier, more mindful emotional responses.
Social Media Emotional Support: While social media can offer avenues for support, the study notes the inherent inconvenience and potential superficiality of social media interactions when it comes to articulating complex emotions and fostering deeper, more meaningful conversations. This can potentially contribute to alexithymia (difficulty identifying and describing one's own emotions), which, in turn, may exacerbate depressive symptoms by hindering effective emotional processing and genuine interpersonal connection.