The widespread use of social media raises concerns about its impact on mental health. While a negative link between social media addiction (SMA) tendencies and psychological well-being (PWB) is established, the underlying mechanisms require clarification. This study examined, from a social and health psychology perspective, whether loneliness mediates this relationship and if procrastination moderates the mediation. 603 participants completed the Social Media Addiction Scale, UCLA Loneliness Scale, Adult Inventory of Procrastination, and Psychological Well-Being Scale. Results confirmed that loneliness mediates the negative relationship between SMA and PWB. Crucially, procrastination moderated the first stage of this mediation. The positive link between SMA and loneliness was significant at low and moderate levels of procrastination but nonsignificant at high levels. Consequently, the indirect negative association of SMA and PWB through loneliness was observed only in individuals with low and moderate procrastination. For high procrastinators, this pathway was not evident. Well-being appears compromised by a broader pattern of self-regulatory failure, making the specific role of social media less distinct for them. This study underscores the importance of considering individual differences in procrastination in interventions aimed at mitigating the negative psychological effects of social media use.
Alma et al. (Wed,) studied this question.