Depression as a mediator between social anxiety and social networking addiction

Abstract

According to the transactional model of stress and coping, socially anxious individuals may rely on online social networking sites (SNS) to avoid challenges and demands of “real life” social situation, leading to their addictive use of SNS. This study examined whether the association between social anxiety and SNS addiction would be mediated by depression symptoms. A total of 1015 university students in Japan completed self-administered questionnaires. Results of bivariate correlation analyses showed that social anxiety, depression, and SNS addiction were significantly related to each other. Relative to men, women reported higher levels of depression and addictive use of SNS. Results of a moderated mediation analysis showed that depression was a significant mediator between social anxiety and SNS addiction, and this mediation effect was moderated by gender. For women, social anxiety exerted an indirect effect on SNS addiction through depression. For men, social anxiety exerted both a direct effect as well as an indirect effect via depression on SNS addiction. Findings suggest that intervention programs that aim to reduce SNS addiction among young adults should include mood management as a core component, and this is particularly relevant for women. Prevention strategies for SNS addiction should also include early detection and identification of depression and social anxiety.