Social Media Addiction and Avoidance of Depressive Thoughts Among Young Adults in Pakistan

Abstract

Objective: This study explored how social media addiction is linked to avoidance of depressive thoughts and depressive symptoms in Pakistani young adults. It further examined whether avoidance of depressive thoughts acts as a mediator between social media addiction and depressive symptoms.

Method: A cross-sectional survey was conducted with 280 university students aged 18–30 years in Lahore. Participants completed the Bergen Social Media Addiction Scale (BSMAS), a newly developed Avoidance of Depressive Thoughts Scale (ADTS), and the Centre for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D). Data were analyzed using Pearson correlations, hierarchical regression, and bootstrapped mediation analysis with 5,000 resamples.

Results: About one-third of participants exceeded the threshold for probable social media addiction. Higher social media addiction scores were significantly associated with greater avoidance of depressive thoughts and higher depressive symptoms. Regression analysis indicated that social media addiction predicted avoidance of depressive thoughts. Mediation analysis showed that avoidance of depressive thoughts partially explained the relationship between social media addiction and depressive symptoms.

Conclusion: Excessive social media use among Pakistani young adults is related to increased avoidance of negative thoughts, which contributes to higher depressive symptoms. Interventions addressing avoidance coping and promoting balanced social media use may help reduce depressive symptoms in this population.

Keywords: social media addiction; avoidance coping; depressive thoughts; young adults; Pakistan