Social media disorder and its association to self-esteem, the sex differences and the mediating role of negative use of social media.

Abstract

Background and aims: It has been argued that problematic use of social media is associated with negative psychosocial outcomes such as a lowered self-esteem, especially in adolescents. However, little is known about the mechanism at play between addictive use of social media and low self-esteem, and whether there are significant sex differences. The current cross-sectional study investigates whether negative use of social media (i.e., cyberbullying, negative content and focus on physical appearance) could be mediating the association between social media disorder (SMD) and self-esteem. Methods: The study involved 225 high-school students who completed a survey measuring background, SMD symptom severity, and psychosocial outcomes. Dimensional and categorical analyses were used to assess the correlation between both dimensions of SMD (i.e., heavy involvement and negative consequences) and self-esteem, and investigate sex differences. Several mediations were run to examine if negative use of social media mediated the association between both dimensions of SMD and self-esteem. Results: Both dimensions of SMD were positively associated to poor self-esteem but no significant sex difference was found for the association between SMD symptoms and self-esteem. However, the associations between cyberbullying and SMD (both heavy involvement and negative consequences), and between negative content and SMD negative consequences were significantly stronger for boys than girls. All three types of negative use of social media meditated the association between SMD heavy involvement and poor self-esteem. However, only focus on physical appearance mediated the association between SMD negative consequences and poor self-esteem. Methodological considerations limiting causal assertions permissible with non-experimental data are discussed.