MEDIATION EFFECT OF USES AND GRATIFICATION AND COGNITIVE DISTORTION ON SOCIAL MEDIA USAGE AND MENTAL HEALTH

Abstract

The use of social media has become a part of youngsters’ lifestyle today. To examine the usage of social media and the impact of its use and gratification on mental health, previous studies extensively applied the uses and gratification theory.  Such studies, overlooked the independent role of cognitive process and social media gratification with respect to the social media usage and the mental health. Filling that gap, the current study has combined the uses and gratification theory (U&G) and stimuli-organism-response (S-O-R) theory in its earnest attempt to create a theoretical backdrop about the impact of social media usage on mental health through motives of social media usage (MSMU) and cognitive distortion. Proposing a structural model that has examined the causal relationship using structured equation modelling methodon data received from 660 Indian participants. The results revealed that total time spent on social media (TTSSM) and passive usage was most crucial factor influencing mental health. Additionally, it was also found that some combination of cognitive distortion and MSMU mediates the relationship between TTSSM and active-passive usage and mental health. The current study results are strong enough to intervene parents, educationist and health practitioners to counsel young people for social media usage.