The Relationship Between Passive Social Networking Site Use And College Students’ Depression: A Chain Mediated Effect Of Upward Social Comparison And Fear Of Loss

According to a report released by China Internet Network Information Center in 2021,there are currently 989 million netizens in China,of which 19.8% have received higher education(college,bachelor or above),and young users still account for the largest proportion.College students are the most active user group among netizens.As a tool for recreation,information collection and communication,social networking sites have attracted more and more attention on the psychological and behavioral adjustment of college students.Studies have shown that the use of social networking sites is an important factor affecting the level of depression in individuals,which has also attracted the attention of researchers in recent years.Research also shows that users tend to use social networking sites passively,which is more common than active social networking sites in daily life,so it has attracted more and more attention in recent years.The main content of this study is that college students’ more use of passive social networking sites will affect their depression degree to some extent.At the same time,it also relates to the idea of comparing with better people and the feeling of always worrying about missing something,and further analyzes the role of both in the research on depression,which will provide a certain theoretical basis and empirical evidence for how to effectively alleviate the level of depression in college students under the Internet environment.In this study,800 college students were randomly selected across the country through the form of online questionnaires.In the end,a total of nearly 700 were collected,among which about 650 were of reference value and representative,with a relatively high efficiency of more than 90%.The passive social networking site use Scale,Upward Social Comparison Scale,Fear of Missing scale and drift center depression scale were used to measure college students.The results show that:(1)There were significant differences in upward social comparison between only child and grade level,significant differences in fear of missing out between grade levels,and significant differences in depression between only child and grade level.(2)There was a positive relationship between passive social networking site use,upward social comparison,fear of missing out,and depression among college students.That is,an increase in the first three is associated with more severe depression among college students.(3)Upward social comparison mediates the relationship between passive social networking site use and college students’ depression.(4)Fear of missing out mediates the relationship between passive social networking site use and college students’ depression.(5)Upward social comparison and fear of missing out mediated the relationship between passive social networking site use and depression in college students.