Depression and anxiety in association with problematic social media use severity and the mediating role of distress tolerance

Abstract A large amount of research has found psychopathology related to increased problematic social media use (PSMU). Yet little research has examined affective or cognitive process variables that may account for this relationship. Couched within the I-PACE theoretical model of Internet use disorders, we present data collected from a medium-sized Midwestern U.S. university. 337 undergraduate psychology students reporting current use of social media completed a cross-sectional web survey. Participants were administered the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 for depression, Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 Scale, Distress Tolerance Scale, and Bergen Social Media Addiction Scale. Confirmatory factor analyses (using Mplus software) for all scales fit well. Then we tested a structural equation model, in which latent constructs of depression and anxiety were specified to predict distress tolerance, in turn predicting PSMU severity, adjusting for age and sex. Only depression (but not anxiety) was significantly associated with lower distress tolerance. Distress tolerance was significantly associated with decreased PSMU, adjusting for age and sex. Lower levels of distress tolerance significantly mediated relations between depression (but not anxiety) and PSMU severity. Distress tolerance may be an important affective regulation mechanism influencing why some depressed individuals engage in PSMU.