Perceived Influence of Social Media, Identity, and Mental Health Outcomes

Social media has become an important context for identity development, and its use has associated with poor mental health outcomes and health-compromising behaviors. The implicit theory that social media has influence over beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors may leave individuals vulnerable to its effects on mental health and, in particular, for those individuals synthesizing their identities. For this study, 253 US emerging adults (Female = 207, Male = 43, Non-binary = 3; M age = 21.69 years) completed an online questionnaire on demographics, frequency of social media use, perception of influence of social media, identity development, and anxious and depressive symptoms. Perceived influence of social media was positively associated with anxiety symptoms, with depressive symptoms, and negatively associated with identity synthesis. Using mediational analyses, the association of perceived influence of social media to anxiety and depressive symptoms was through identity synthesis. Reducing individuals’ perception of influence of social media may ameliorate negative outcomes.