Ne Yan,1,2 Ying Long,2 Huiling Yuan,3 Xiaofei Zhou,3,4 Bin Xie,2 Ying Wang1,3 

1Department of Psychiatry, Xi’an Honghui Hospital, Xi’an, Shaanxi, 710054, People’s Republic of China; 2Department of Psychology, Xi’an Physical Education University, Xi’an, Shaanxi, People’s Republic of China; 3Department of Psychiatry, Xi’an International Medical Center Hospital, the Affiliated Hospital of Northwest University, Xi’an, Shaanxi, People’s Republic of China; 4The College of Life Sciences and Medicine, Northwest University, Xi’an, Shaanxi, People’s Republic of China

Correspondence: Ying Wang, Xi’an Honghui Hospital, 666 Jianyuan 2nd Road, Economic and Technological Development Zone, Xi’an City, Shaanxi Province, 710000, People’s Republic of China, Email fgx995@163.com

Background: The 18– 24 age group has a much higher rate of depression risk than other age groups, and this age group has the highest proportion among users of mobile social media. The relationship between the use of mobile social media and depressive mood is inconsistent and the mechanism of action is controversial.
Purpose: This study explored the relationship among the intensity of social media use, upward social comparison, cognitive overload and depressive mood.
Methods: In this research, we used the Brief Self-rating Depression Scale (PHQ-9), the Social Media Usage Intensity Questionnaire, the Social Comparison Scale on Social Networking Sites and the Social Networking Site Cognitive Overload Scale to investigate the depressive mood and mobile social media use of 568 college students.
Results: The intensity of mobile social media use, social networking site upward social comparison, and social networking site cognitive overload are all positively correlated with depressive mood. The intensity of mobile social media use has a positive predictive effect on depressive mood, with upward social comparison and cognitive overload acting as independent mediators in the relationship between mobile social media use intensity and depressive symptoms, as well as exhibiting a chained mediating effect of upward social comparison-cognitive overload.
Conclusion: The upward social comparison and cognitive load that occur during the use of mobile social media are important predictive factors for the occurrence of depressive mood. This study is a supplement to the mechanism of the relationship between mobile social media use and depression, providing more evidence-based evidence and intervention directions for university teachers, mobile social media developers, and psychologists.

Keywords: mobile social media, upward social comparison, cognitive overload, depressive mood, chain mediation