Examining the link between distressing life events, social media distress disclosure, and perceived stress: A moderated mediation model

Abstract

People share not only positive but also distressing personal information on social media. Although much work has been done to understand distress disclosure practices on social media, little is known about the association between social media distress disclosure and different components of disclosure risk, as well as the link between distressing life events, social media distress disclosure, and psychological well-being. This study examines the theoretical antecedents (i.e., situational and non-situational factors) of social media distress disclosure and tests a moderated mediation model that assesses the mediator role of social media distress disclosure on the relationship between distressors (i.e., frequency and intensity of distressing life events) and perceived stress. Results from an online survey (n = 967) revealed that social media users’ distress disclosure frequency is associated with both situational (i.e., distressing life events and exposure to others’ distress disclosure) and non-situational (i.e., perceived risks and benefits of distress disclosure) factors. Specifically, the findings indicated that social media users’ distress disclosure frequency was not only affected by self-oriented risk but also other-oriented risk—imposition risk. Furthermore, the moderated mediation model revealed that the association between distressors and perceived stress was mediated by social media distress disclosure frequency, and this mediated relationship was moderated by risk-benefit calculus and satisfaction with social media distress disclosure. Overall, this study advances our understanding of social media distress disclosure and extends existing self-disclosure theories by specifying the conditions by which individuals can expect an improvement in psychological well-being following disclosure of distressing information on social media.