The relationship between social support, life satisfaction and problematic WeChat use among college students

Investigating the risk factors and underlying mechanisms of problematic WeChat use(PWU) holds significant promise for preemptively addressing and mitigating such behaviors among college students, thereby fostering improvements in their mental well-being. The present study aims to characterize PWU and to examine differences in social support and life satisfaction potentially across these profiles. In addition, this study also employs latent profile analysis to delve into the influence of social support and life satisfaction on PWU among college students. Using convenience sampling, a sample of 7000 Chinese college students from three universities completed a questionnaire assessing social support, PWU and life satisfaction. The latent profile analysis identifed six PWU profiles, which were labelled as lowest, very lower, low PWU and high, very higher, highest PWU. Moreover, life satisfaction played a mediating role in the relationship between social support and PWU, but this effect exhibited significant differences across PWU risk groups. Specifically, in the very low and very high PWU groups, the indirect effect value of life satisfaction was the highest, and it significantly mediated the impact of social support on PWU. Second, in the lowest, low, and high PWU groups, the indirect effect of life satisfaction was lower, yet it still significantly mediated the relationship between social support and PWU. However, for the highest group, the aforementioned mediating pathway was completely non-significant (indirect effect = -0.01, 95% CI = [-0.02, 0.02], P > 0.05), indicating that life satisfaction did not mediate the relationship between social support and PWU in this group. This study offers valuable insights for alleviating the adverse consequences associated with PWU, thereby fostering enhanced mental health outcomes among this demographic.