Examining the mediating roles of self-esteem and social support in the link between digital addiction and mental health
Findings from a meta-analytic structural equation modeling study
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 22080956 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Turgut Karaköse (0000-0003-0346-8154, Dumlupinar University), Tijen Tülübaş (0000-0001-9406-8361, Dumlupinar University), Bünyamin HAN (0000-0003-0204-5686, Dumlupinar University), Sedat KANADLI (0000-0002-0905-8677, Mersin Üniversitesi), Abdurrahman Kardas (0000-0001-9846-1523, Provincial Directorate of National Education), Hakan Polat (0000-0002-0271-3747, Fırat University), Murat DEMİRKOL (0000-0003-3108-3219, Fırat University) |
| Year | 2026 |
| Volume | 14 |
| Pages | 1812488-1812488 |
| Publication date | 2026-05-29 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Frontiers in Public Health (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 2296-2565 • E-ISSN: 2296-2565 |
| Publisher | Frontiers Media SA (PUBLISHER • CH) |
| DOI | 10.3389/fpubh.2026.1812488 |
| PMID | 42293591 |
| OpenAlex | W7162758863 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 103 |
Introduction: In their constantly digitalizing environments, adolescents and university students become more vulnerable to digital addiction and related mental health problems. Existing evidence has shown that perceived social support and self-esteem are significant psycho-social factors influencing their tendency to experience digital addiction and mental health problems. However, studies investigating the interrelationships between these constructs are limited in number despite their growing significance for this cohort of individuals. Methods: This study aims to test a proposed research model using meta-analytic structural equation modeling (MASEM) analysis in order to reveal the multifaceted relationships between these significant constructs. The study particularly addresses the mediating role of perceived social support and self-esteem in the relationship between digital addiction and mental health. Analyses were made by using correlation coefficients retrieved from a total of 182 studies accumulating a total sample of 111.798 participants. Results: The results showed that digital addiction of late-adolescents and university students was statistically associated with their mental health both directly and indirectly through perceived social support and self-esteem. Discussion: By testing an integrated model of psychological and behavioral factors within a single exploratory framework, the study provided an original contribution to the literature and suggested significant implications for incentives to be designed not only to support young people's effective use of digital technologies but to protect their mental health through strengthening their social ties and self-esteem
Addiction · Exploratory research · Incentive · Mental health · Social support · Structural equation modeling · Child Development and Digital Technology · Impact of Technology on Adolescents · Sexuality, Behavior, and Technology
Meta‐Analysis
Introduction to Meta‐Analysis
Meta-analytic structural equation modeling
Global prevalence of digital addiction in general population
Narcissism and problematic social media use
A review of theories and models applied in studies of social media addiction and implications for future research
Is Self-Esteem a Cause or Consequence of Social Support? A 4-Year Longitudinal Study
Social support, self-esteem and depression
Internet Addiction
Social Support, Self-Esteem, and Stress as Predictors of Adjustment to University Among First-Year Undergraduates
Prevalence of Internet addiction and its association with social support and other related factors among adolescents in China
Social Networking Sites and Addiction
The Relationships Among Gratitude, Self-esteem, Social Support and Life Satisfaction Among Undergraduate Students
Associations between loneliness and perceived social support and outcomes of mental health problems
Problematic smartphone use
Internet Addiction in adolescence
The Association between Pathological Internet Use and Comorbid Psychopathology
Gender differences in mental health problems among adolescents and the role of social support
Measuring inconsistency in meta-analyses
The PRISMA 2020 statement
Cutoff criteria for fit indexes in covariance structure analysis
A ‘components’ model of addiction within a biopsychosocial framework
Evaluating Effect Size in Psychological Research
Bias in cross-sectional analyses of longitudinal mediation.
The relationship between real-life social support and Internet addiction among the elderly in China
Association between mobile phone addiction and social support among mainland Chinese teenagers
Impact of digital addiction on youth health
Investigating the mediating effect of resilience in the relationship between self-efficacy, happiness, social support, and Internet addiction in adolescents
The roles of adolescents’ emotional problems and social media addiction on their self-esteem
Passive social media use and psychological well-being during the Covid-19 pandemic
Problematic smartphone use on mental health
Social isolation, social support and their relationship with smartphone addiction
Craving Facebook? Behavioral addiction to online social networking and its association with emotion regulation deficits
A conceptual and methodological critique of internet addiction research
Facilitating student engagement through educational technology in higher education
A meta-analysis of the problematic social media use and mental health
The Impact of Perceived Social Support on Internet Addiction Among Vietnamese Undergraduates
Facing Loneliness and Anxiety During the Covid-19 Isolation
Fear of Missing Out and Smartphone Addiction Mediates the Relationship Between Positive and Negative Affect and Sleep Quality Among Chinese University Students
From Digital Mental Health Interventions to Digital “Addiction”
Problematic Instagram Use
Exploring Individual Differences in Online Addictions
Smartphone Addiction and Social Support
Structural relationships between students' social support and self-esteem, depression, and happiness
Online Learning Satisfaction and Internet Addiction During Covid-19 Pandemic
Examining the Empirical Links Between Digital Social Pressure, Personality, Psychological Distress, Social Support, Users’ Residential Living Conditions, and Smartphone Addiction
The relationship between problematic internet use and interpersonal cognitive distortions and life satisfaction in university students
Social support and self-esteem in adolescence
Bedtime mobile phone use and sleep in adults
Is low self-esteem an inevitable consequence of stigma? An example from women with chronic mental health problems
Multimodel Inference
The Power of Self-Labels
| Highly cited | No |
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