Associations among problematic social media use, body image, and depression among adolescents: a cross-sectional indirect-effects analysis

Abstract

Adolescents’ problematic social media use and negative body image perception are associated with depressive symptoms. The present study aimed to investigate the relationships between problematic social media use, depression, and body image among adolescents and to examine the indirect association between problematic social media use and depression through body image. A total of 911 adolescents (54.12% female; Mage = 15.43 years, range = 13–18 years) participated in the study. Data were collected based on self-report from volunteer adolescents in six high schools located in the Western Black Sea Region of Türkiye between September 4 and December 27, 2024. Participants provided demographic information as well as completing the Social Media Addiction Scale for Adolescents, the Kutcher Adolescent Depression Scale, and the Body Image Scale. After adjustment for gender, age, and daily social media use, problematic social media use was positively associated with depression and a more negative body image, and a more negative body image was associated with higher depression scores. The indirect association between problematic social media use and depression through body image was significant (B = 0.0363, 95% bootstrap CI [0.0229, 0.0518]; p <.001). A reverse-order sensitivity analysis also showed a significant indirect association (B = 0.0905, 95% bootstrap CI [0.0558, 0.1310]; p <.001). These findings show that body image is related to the association between problematic social media use and depression. However, the cross-sectional design is unable to determine the temporal direction of these relationships.