PROBLEMATIC SOCIAL MEDIA USE AND PSYCHOLOGICAL WELLBEING: PSYCHOLOGICAL DISTRESS AS A MEDIATOR AND MINDFULNESS AS A MODERATOR AMONG UNIVERSITY STUDENTS

Abstract

The proliferation of social media has profoundly reshaped university students' experiences, offering connectivity alongside potential mental health risks. This study examined the relationship between problematic social media use (PSMU) and psychological wellbeing among university students, investigating psychological distress as a mediating mechanism and mindfulness as a protective moderator. Using a cross-sectional design, 220 university students aged 16 to 35 years (M = 20.05, SD = 2.27) were recruited from universities of Faisalabad. The sample was predominantly female (79.5%) and consisted primarily of undergraduate students (91.4%). Participants completed validated self-report measures: the Bergen Social Media Addiction Scale (BSMAS), Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale (WEMWBS), Depression Anxiety Stress Scales-21 (DASS-21), and Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire-Short Form (FFMQ-SF). Data were analyzed using IBM SPSS and PROCESS macro to test a moderated mediation model. Results revealed that PSMU was positively correlated with psychological distress (r = .223, p < .01) and negatively associated with mindfulness (r = -.148, p < .05). Mediation analysis demonstrated that psychological distress partially mediated the relationship between PSMU and psychological wellbeing, with evidence of a suppression effect. However, moderation analysis indicated that mindfulness significantly moderates the relationship between PSMU and psychological wellbeing. These findings contributed to understanding the complex mechanisms linking digital behavior to mental health outcomes and highlighted the importance of addressing psychological distress in interventions targeting problematic social media use among university students navigating pervasive social media engagement.