Social Media Addiction and Depressive Symptoms in Adolescents: The Mediating Roles of Anxiety and Emotional Eating

Addictive social media use (ASMU) has increased among adolescents; however, evidence regarding the role of anxiety and emotional eating (EmE) in its association with depressive symptoms remains limited, particularly in Latin American contexts.

To analyze the direct and indirect associations between ASMU and depressive symptoms, assessing the mediating role of anxiety and EmE.

An analytical cross-sectional study was conducted in 880 adolescents aged 11 to 18 years from public and private educational institutions in East Lima, Peru. ASMU, anxiety (GAD-2), EmE, and depressive symptoms (PHQ-2) were assessed. In addition to descriptive statistics and bivariate correlations, an observed-variable path analysis using composite scores with bias-corrected bootstrapping (5000 resamples) was estimated to quantify direct, indirect, and total associations.

The path model showed good fit to the data (CFI = 0.978; TLI = 0.968; RMSEA = 0.054, 90% CI = 0.043-0.065; SRMR = 0.046) and explained 45.7% of the variance in depressive symptoms. ASMU was positively associated with anxiety (β = 0.374, p < 0.001), EmE (β = 0.340, p < 0.001), and directly with depressive symptoms (β = 0.120, p = 0.003). Significant indirect associations were also observed through anxiety (β = 0.199, p < 0.001), EmE (β = 0.079, p < 0.001), and the sequential indirect pathway involving anxiety and EmE (β = 0.033, p < 0.001). The total association between ASMU and depressive symptoms was significant (β = 0.431, p < 0.001).

The findings are consistent with a pattern of partial mediation, in which ASMU is associated with higher depressive symptoms both directly and through indirect pathways linked to anxiety and EmE.