| dc.description.abstract | Abstract
Adolescence is a vulnerable period for developing depressive feelings and low self-esteem. Previous research has shown that social media may play a role in the development of these aspects. Almost all adolescents today use social media. However, few studies have reported specific findings on social media use and depressive feelings in adolescents mediated by self-esteem levels. The current study examined this relationship with a research group consisting of 37 adolescents between the ages of 16-18. They completed an online survey via Qualtrics with questionnaires about social media use, perceived depressive feelings and self-esteem levels. The mediation analysis was done by using the PROCESS analysis technique. First, the results showed that there was no relationship between the frequency of social media use and depressive feelings. In addition, it appears that self-esteem did not mediate the relationship between the frequency of social media use and depressive feelings. Both were contrary to the literature and predetermined expectation. There are several limitations of the study. For example, one-time measurements would not accurately predict social media use, measuring total social media use did not give an impression of how adolescents use social media, the study group was small, and adolescent self-reporting was not found to be completely reliable. For future research, it is important to consider longitudinal re-examination with more participants in which a smaller aspect of social media use is measured more specifically. | |
