The Mediating Role of Quality of Life in the Association Between Depression Literacy and Social Media Addiction

Abstract

Social media has now become an inseparable part of modern human life. However, its improper use will increase the risk of addiction, which will hurt individual well-being. This study aims to examine the influence of depression literacy, quality of life, and social media addiction. This study used convenience sampling and involved 195 participants aged 17 to 40. The instruments used were the Internet Addiction-Revised (IAT-R), Depression Literacy (D-Lit) Questionnaire, and 12-item Short Form Health Survey (SF-12). In this study, quality of life was analyzed as a mediator variable between depression literacy and social media addiction. The results showed that depression literacy did not significantly predict quality of life (β = -0.102, p = 0.062, 95% CI [-0.418, 0.0364]). In addition, quality of life has a significant negative effect on social media addiction (β = -0.633, p < 0.001, 95% CI [-0.781, -0.538]). This study also found a significant indirect effect between depression literacy and social media addiction through quality of life as a mediator (β = -0.113, p = 0.013, 95% CI [-0.357, -0.053]). This finding indicates a full mediation effect, in which quality of life moderates the relationship between literacy and social media addiction.