Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 6, 2025

A New Method for Inducing a Depression-Like Behavior in Rats
Published on: February 22, 2018
Association Between Social Networking Site Use Intensity and Depression Among Chinese Pregnant Women: Cross-sectional
Rui Wang1, Shengnan Cong2, Lijuan Sha3
1School of Nursing, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China.
Background:
Despite extensive debates about the mental health impacts of the use of social networking sites (SNSs), including WeChat, the association and mechanisms between social interaction of WeChat use intensity and antenatal depression are unclear.
Objective:
We aimed to test the mediating roles of upward social comparison on social interaction of WeChat and rumination in the association between social interaction of WeChat use intensity and antenatal depression.
Methods:
A cross-sectional survey was conducted in four hospitals with the self-reported measures of social interaction of WeChat use intensity, upward social comparison on social interaction of WeChat, rumination, antenatal depression, and control variables. The mediation analysis was performed through Model 6 from the PROCESS macro 4.0 in SPSS 26.
Results:
Results from 2661 participants showed that antenatal depression was unrelated to social interaction of WeChat use intensity (P=.54), but was significantly positively related to the attitude toward social interaction of WeChat (P=.01). The direct effect of attitude toward social interaction of WeChat use on antenatal depression was not statistically significant (β=-.03, P=.05). The results supported an indirect relationship between attitude toward social interaction of WeChat use and antenatal depression via (1) upward social comparison on social interaction of WeChat (indirect effect value=0.04, 95% CI 0.03 to 0.06); (2) rumination (indirect effect value=-0.02, 95% CI -0.04 to -0.01); and (3) upward social comparison on social interaction of WeChat and rumination in sequence (indirect effect value=0.07, 95% CI 0.06 to 0.08).
Conclusions:
Our findings highlight the necessity of focusing on attitudes toward SNS use, and the importance of upward social comparison and rumination in understanding the effect of SNS use on antenatal depression.
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
Depressive Disorders: Etiology
Biological Factors in Depression
Biological predispositions significantly influence the risk of developing depressive disorders. Genetic studies highlight the role of variations in the serotonin transporter...
Long-term Depression
Relationship Formation
Depression: Overview
Depressive Disorders: MDD and Dysthymia

