Relationship Between Problematic Social Media Usage and Employee Depression: A Moderated Mediation Model of Mindfulness and Fear of COVID-19

Abstract

Social media plays a significant role in modern life, but excessive use of it during the COVID-19 pandemic has become a source of concern. Supported by the conservation of resources theory, the current study extends the literature on problematic social media usage during COVID-19 by investigating its association with emotional and mental health outcomes. In a moderated mediation model, this study proposes that problematic social media use by workers during COVID-19 is linked to fear of COVID-19, which is further associated with depression. The current study tested trait mindfulness as an important personal resource that may be associated with reduced fear of COVID-19 despite problematic social media use. The study collected temporally separate data to avoid common method bias. Pakistani employees (N = 267) working in different organizations completed a series of survey questionnaires. The results supported the moderated mediation model, showing that problematic social media use during the current pandemic is linked to fear of COVID-19 and depression among employees. Furthermore, trait mindfulness was found to be an important buffer, reducing the negative indirect association between problematic social media use and depression through fear of COVID-19. These results offer implications for practitioners. The limitations of this study and future research directions are also discussed.

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“…Researchers believe that time-lagged research design has an advantage over cross-sectional research design as, unlike cross-sectional research, it minimizes common method bias (Podsakoff et al, 2012 ). Other studies have also used a time-lagged research design to minimize common method bias (Majeed and Fatima, 2020 ; Majeed et al, 2020 ).…”

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“…Pandemide internet kullanımı, eğitim ve kurum faaliyetlerinin sürdürülmesi, bireylerin birbirleriyle iletişim kurabilmesi ve birçok sosyal aktivitenin gerçekleştirebilmesi açısından hayatı kolaylaştırmıştır (16). Ancak ilgili alanda pandemi öncesine oranla bireylerin yaşadıkları kaygıyı azaltabilmek için sosyal medya kullanma, internette gezinme ya da dijital oyun oynama gibi bağımlılık riski taşıyan davranışlara daha fazla yönelebildiği bildirilmiştir (17,18).…”