Exploring the Association Between Social Media Addiction and Relationship Satisfaction: Psychological Distress as a Mediator

Abstract

Social media use has become part of daily life for many people. Earlier research showed that problematic social media use is associated with psychological distress and relationship satisfaction. The aim of the present study was to examine the mediating role of psychological distress in the relationship between social media addiction (SMA) and romantic relationship satisfaction (RS). Participants comprised 334 undergraduates from four mid-sized universities in Turkey who completed an offline survey. The survey included the Relationship Assessment Scale, the Social Media Disorder Scale, and the Depression Anxiety and Stress Scale. According to the results, there were significant correlations between all variables. The results also indicated that depression, anxiety, and stress partially mediated the impact of SMA on RS. Moreover, utilizing the bootstrapping procedure the study found significant associations between SMA and RS via psychological distress. Consequently, reducing social media use may help couples deal with romantic relationship dissatisfaction, thereby mitigating their depression, anxiety, and stress.