The association between depression and addictive social media use during the COVID-19 pandemic: The mediating role of sense of control.
<h4>Background</h4>COVID-19 precipitated a plethora of mental health difficulties, particularly for those with pre-existing mental health concerns such as depression or addictive tendencies. For some, the distress that emanated from the experience of the pandemic prompted excessive engag...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Public Library of Science (PLoS)
2023-01-01
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| Series: | PLoS ONE |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0291034 |
| _version_ | 1797686768958439424 |
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| author | Zahir Vally Mai Helmy Louis Fourie |
| author_facet | Zahir Vally Mai Helmy Louis Fourie |
| author_sort | Zahir Vally |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | <h4>Background</h4>COVID-19 precipitated a plethora of mental health difficulties, particularly for those with pre-existing mental health concerns such as depression or addictive tendencies. For some, the distress that emanated from the experience of the pandemic prompted excessive engagement in the safety of online interactions on social media. The present study examined whether variation in individuals' sense of control explained the association between depression and addictive social media use.<h4>Method</h4>A sample of 1322 participants from two Middle Eastern nations provided data collected during the peak of the pandemic from February to May 2021. A combination of convenience and snowball sampling were used to recruit and collect data from college-aged students enrolled at two universities in Egypt and the United Arab Emirates, respectively. This study adopted a cross-sectional design in which participants completed a self-administered survey that consisted of measures that assessed depressive affect, sense of control, and addictive social media use.<h4>Results</h4>Depression was significantly and positively associated with addictive SMU. Sense of control was negatively related to both depression and SMU and significantly mediated the association between these two variables (β = .62, SE = .03, 95%CI .56, .68).<h4>Conclusion</h4>This study identified a potential protective variable that could be targeted by psychological treatment to ameliorate the potential onset of addictive SMU in individuals with depressive symptoms under conditions of immense psychological distress such as a worldwide pandemic. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T01:09:36Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-3803013de81b495e83fb456c3f41fb57 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1932-6203 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T01:09:36Z |
| publishDate | 2023-01-01 |
| publisher | Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
| record_format | Article |
| series | PLoS ONE |
| spelling | doaj.art-3803013de81b495e83fb456c3f41fb572023-09-14T05:31:24ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032023-01-01189e029103410.1371/journal.pone.0291034The association between depression and addictive social media use during the COVID-19 pandemic: The mediating role of sense of control.Zahir VallyMai HelmyLouis Fourie<h4>Background</h4>COVID-19 precipitated a plethora of mental health difficulties, particularly for those with pre-existing mental health concerns such as depression or addictive tendencies. For some, the distress that emanated from the experience of the pandemic prompted excessive engagement in the safety of online interactions on social media. The present study examined whether variation in individuals' sense of control explained the association between depression and addictive social media use.<h4>Method</h4>A sample of 1322 participants from two Middle Eastern nations provided data collected during the peak of the pandemic from February to May 2021. A combination of convenience and snowball sampling were used to recruit and collect data from college-aged students enrolled at two universities in Egypt and the United Arab Emirates, respectively. This study adopted a cross-sectional design in which participants completed a self-administered survey that consisted of measures that assessed depressive affect, sense of control, and addictive social media use.<h4>Results</h4>Depression was significantly and positively associated with addictive SMU. Sense of control was negatively related to both depression and SMU and significantly mediated the association between these two variables (β = .62, SE = .03, 95%CI .56, .68).<h4>Conclusion</h4>This study identified a potential protective variable that could be targeted by psychological treatment to ameliorate the potential onset of addictive SMU in individuals with depressive symptoms under conditions of immense psychological distress such as a worldwide pandemic.https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0291034 |
| spellingShingle | Zahir Vally Mai Helmy Louis Fourie The association between depression and addictive social media use during the COVID-19 pandemic: The mediating role of sense of control. PLoS ONE |
| title | The association between depression and addictive social media use during the COVID-19 pandemic: The mediating role of sense of control. |
| title_full | The association between depression and addictive social media use during the COVID-19 pandemic: The mediating role of sense of control. |
| title_fullStr | The association between depression and addictive social media use during the COVID-19 pandemic: The mediating role of sense of control. |
| title_full_unstemmed | The association between depression and addictive social media use during the COVID-19 pandemic: The mediating role of sense of control. |
| title_short | The association between depression and addictive social media use during the COVID-19 pandemic: The mediating role of sense of control. |
| title_sort | association between depression and addictive social media use during the covid 19 pandemic the mediating role of sense of control |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0291034 |
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