Self-esteem only goes so far: the moderating effect of social media screen time on self-esteem and depressive symptoms

This study assessed the independent association of self-esteem and social media screen time on depressive symptoms, as well as the moderating role of social media screen time in the relationship between self-esteem and depressive symptoms. The Mobile Screen Time Project was a cross-sectional, web-based survey conducted from March to May of 2019. 437 U.S. college students were recruited via social networks from two institutions of higher education. Multivariable logistic regression assessed the associations between self-esteem and average daily social media time with depressive symptoms; an interaction effect was explored. Self-esteem had an inverse association (AOR = 0.87, 95% CI: 0.80–0.94) and daily social media time had a significant association with depressive symptoms (AOR = 1.11, 95% CI: 1.02–1.22) after adjusting for sexual and gender status, race/ethnicity, age, social status, and insomnia. We found a significant moderating effect (p = 0.016) of daily social media time. The more time spent on social media, the less protective self-esteem was against depressive symptoms. Those suffering from depressive symptoms or low self-esteem may benefit from reducing their social media use, intentionally exposing themselves to positive content and leveraging peer-to-peer social support through social media to create a sense of belonging.