Social media addiction as a mediator of the associations between fear of COVID-19, mental health symptoms, and problematic alcohol use.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Fear of COVID-19 is a risk factor for anxiety and depressive symptoms. During the COVID-19 pandemic, drinking to cope with psychological distress has been proposed as a key mechanism leading to problematic drinking. The goal of this study was to test social media addiction as a mediator linking fear of COVID-19 to mental health symptoms and problematic alcohol use.

Methods

In between April 6 and July 2 of 2022, 250 participants completed an online survey as part of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism COVID-19 Pandemic Impact on Alcohol Study. Path analyses were conducted to test the mediational pathways.

Results

Using the polythetic classification scheme, 13.2% (n = 33) of participants were classified as having social media addicti

SUBMITTER: Luk JW 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10682110 | biostudies-literature | 2023

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature