Tang Yiming, Xu Min, Tan Zhongwei, Liu Yong
School of Psychology, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, China.
Experimental Center of Psychology, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, China.
Front Psychol. 2024 May 27;15:1347858. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1347858. eCollection 2024.
Adolescents are in the transitional stage from childhood to adulthood, a critical period for individual physical and mental development. With the rapid development of the Internet, social networking has become an integral part of adolescents' daily lives. However, the information that adolescents are exposed to on social networks is often processed and embellished, which may cause them to become physically dissatisfied and lead to emotional problems, such as depression. We investigated the chain-mediating effects of self-objectification and body satisfaction on the relationship between social network use and depression.
We utilized questionnaire data of 2025 adolescents from two secondary schools and one high school in China.
Our results demonstrated that (1) there are obvious sex differences in the intensity of social network use and active and passive social network use among adolescents, with usage higher among girls than for boys; (2) self-objectification and body satisfaction play a mediating role in the relationship between the intensity of social network use and adolescent depression, as well as the presence of chain-mediating roles; and (3) self-objectification and body satisfaction play an intermediary role in the relationship between active and passive social network use and adolescent depression; there is further a chain intermediary role. The findings suggest that social network use affects adolescents' depression through self-objectification and body satisfaction, which is not only manifested in the general use intensity of social networks but also in their active and passive use modes of social networks.
This study provides theoretical support for the causes and mechanisms behind the influence of social network use on adolescent depression and has practical implications for the prevention and intervention of adolescent emotional problems.
青少年正处于从童年到成年的过渡阶段，是个体身心发展的关键时期。随着互联网的快速发展，社交网络已成为青少年日常生活中不可或缺的一部分。然而，青少年在社交网络上接触到的信息往往经过加工和美化，这可能导致他们对自己的身体产生不满，并引发抑郁等情绪问题。我们研究了自我物化和身体满意度在社交网络使用与抑郁之间关系中的链式中介作用。
我们利用了来自中国两所中学和一所高中的2025名青少年的问卷调查数据。
我们的研究结果表明：（1）青少年在社交网络使用强度以及主动和被动社交网络使用方面存在明显的性别差异，女孩的使用率高于男孩；（2）自我物化和身体满意度在社交网络使用强度与青少年抑郁之间的关系中起中介作用，且存在链式中介作用；（3）自我物化和身体满意度在主动和被动社交网络使用与青少年抑郁之间的关系中起中介作用，并且进一步存在链式中介作用。研究结果表明，社交网络使用通过自我物化和身体满意度影响青少年的抑郁，这不仅体现在社交网络的总体使用强度上，还体现在其主动和被动的使用模式上。
本研究为社交网络使用影响青少年抑郁的原因和机制提供了理论支持，并对青少年情绪问题的预防和干预具有实际意义。
