Does age matter? The impact of social media exposure on people's mental health

• social media exposure affect individuals’ mental health via threat and coping appraisals. • the impact of social media on mental health largely depends on individuals’ concerns about the information exposed. • the young generation (aged 20–34) place greater reliance on their perceived control over preventive behaviors to enhance their mental health. • middle-aged individuals (aged 35–54) and elderly individuals (aged over 54) rely on their perceptions of threat to influence their mental health. This study investigates how social media exposure has affected individuals’ mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic, with a particular emphasis on age differences. Given the contentious nature of this effect observed in previous research, the study innovatively tackles the issue through two approaches. Drawing on the protection motivation theory (PMT) , the study demonstrates the indirect effect of social media exposure via threat and coping appraisals, finding that the impact of social media on mental health largely depends on individuals’ concerns about the information exposed. Second, the study considers age as a contextual factor, examining the unique patterns observed within different age groups (young, middle-aged, and elderly). A two-wave longitudinal panel study was conducted in Hong Kong from November 2021 to April 2022 (N = 1,153) to test the proposed framework. Our findings support the utility of two appraisals as mediators and indicates that the young generation (aged 20–34) tends to adopt the coping appraisal to enhance their mental health. In contrast, middle-aged and elderly individuals employ threat appraisals to the detriment of their mental health. These findings make theoretical contributions for the extension of the PMT on individuals’ mental health outcomes and provide valuable practical guidelines. Policymakers and health organizations should implement targeted communication strategies that emphasize coping appraisals for the general public. Also, crisis information should be tailored for different age groups, offering resilience techniques for younger populations and a balanced approach for middle-aged and elderly individuals.