Instagram is one of the most widely used social media platforms worldwide and its impact on mental health has become a major research topic. While many studies focus on frequency or duration of use, little is known about the role of motivations for using Instagram in relation to internalizing complaints such as depression, anxiety, and stress. The present study investigated how different motivations and intensity of Instagram use relate to internalizing complaints in young adults. A total of 459 participants aged 18 to 35 years completed questionnaires measuring depressive, anxious, and stress symptoms, five motivations for using Instagram (social interaction, archiving, self-expression, escapism, and peeking), and three intensity-of-use dimensions (persistence, boredom, and overuse). Using a Bayesian approach, we estimated an undirected network model, which allows to investigate conditional dependencies between variables. In addition, Directed Acyclic Graphs were used to explore pathways between Instagram motivations, intensity-of-use metrics, and internalizing complaints. Results indicated that internalizing complaints were not directly linked to intensity of use, yet had clear associations with specific motivations. Depressive symptoms were negatively associated with social interaction motives and positively associated with escapism. Exploratory directional modelling suggested that higher internalizing complaints may increase the motivation to use Instagram as a form of escapism. These findings underscore the importance of considering motivational factors, rather than only time or frequency, in understanding the complex relationship between Instagram use and mental health. Highlights • Internalizing complaints are associated with specific motivations for using Instagram. • Internalizing complaints are negatively associated with a social interaction motive. • Higher internalizing complaints are directionally associated with an increased motivation to use Instagram for escapism.
Maerevoet et al. (Tue,) studied this question.