Skip to content
DraconiticResearch
Search Sources API
203,948 studies31 sourcesUpdated 57 min ago
Peer-reviewedCC BY-NC-ND 4.0BMC Psychology

Elucidating relationships among upward social comparison on social networking sites (SNSs), depressive symptoms, and SNS addiction in college students: insights from structural equation modeling and network analysis

  • Bin Liu1,2
  • Mingxuan Zou3
  • Yuting Feng3
  • Lei Ren4,5
  • Mengze Li3
  • Jiaying Zhang3
  • Niping Qin1
  • Shuo Liu1
  • Qifan Yang1
  • Qun Yang3
  • Zhiping Yang1
  • Daiming Fan1
5 affiliations
  1. 1State Key Laboratory of Holistic Integrative Management of Gastrointestinal Cancers and National Clinical Research Center for Digestive Diseases, Xijing Hospital of Digestive Diseases, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi’an, 710032 China
  2. 2Department of Health Care Management and Medical Education, School of Military Preventive Medicine, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi’an, 710032 China
  3. 3Department of Military Medical Psychology, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi’an, 710032 China
  4. 4Military Psychology Section, Logistics University of the PAP, Tianjin, 300162 China
  5. 5Military Mental Health Services & Research Centre, Tianjin, 300162 China
Read full textDOICite

Abstract

Background: With the burgeoning prevalence of social networking sites (SNSs), the likelihood of upward social comparison on SNSs has concomitantly escalated, particularly among college students. Notably, upward social comparison on SNSs has been linked to negative emotions and problematic behaviors, such as depressive symptoms and SNS addiction. However, the interconnections between upward social comparison on SNSs, depressive symptoms, and SNS addiction remain underexplored. Therefore, this study aims to elucidate the relationship between upward social comparison on SNSs, depressive symptoms, and SNS addiction in college students.

Methods: A total of 1,493 Chinese college students participated in this study. Structural equation modeling and network analysis were utilized to investigate the relationships among upward social comparison on SNSs, depressive symptoms, and SNS addiction at both the overall construct and individual item levels. Furthermore, for the network analysis, we utilized two methodologies: regularized partial correlation network (RPCN) and directed acyclic graph (DAG).

Results: Upward social comparison on SNSs was associated with greater depressive symptoms and SNS addiction, and depressive symptoms partially mediated the association between upward social comparison on SNSs and SNS addiction. In the RPCN, “Comparison in handling negative events” served as the central node, while “Comparison with more successful people” functioned as the bridge node. From a probabilistic priority perspective, “Comparison in handling negative events” was identified as an upstream node within the fitted DAG structure, with depressive symptoms mediating the relationship between upward social comparison on SNSs and SNS addiction.

Conclusions: Our study indicates that depressive symptoms partially mediate the association between upward social comparison on SNSs and SNS addiction among Chinese college students in the present sample. Additionally, our analysis highlights the central, bridging, and potential activating roles of specific nodes within the networks. Collectively, these findings offer preliminary clues for future intervention development targeting Chinese college students.

Related

  1. Elucidating the relationships between host-associated (intestinal and gill) and environmental (water and sand) microbial communities across water exchange rates in Babylonia areolata aquaculture
    Di Tang, Zhigang Tu, Hongtao Liu +3
    Frontiers in MicrobiologyPeer-reviewedCC BY 4.0MicrobiologyFrontiersCrossref
  2. Differential Pathways to Depressive Symptoms in Students With and Without Special Educational Needs: The Role of Emotional Reactivity and Parent–Teacher Relationships
    Andriani A. Papadaki, Antonios I. Christou, Elias Kourkoutas +1
    Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland)Peer-reviewedCC BYFull textEurope PMC
  3. Elucidating the Stem of Crassulaceae: A Structural Chemical‐Anatomical Analysis
    Agustín Maceda, A. Rosa Andrés‐Hernández, Jerónimo Reyes‐Santiago +2
    Plant DirectPeer-reviewedCC BY-NC 4.0Full textPlant biologyPMCEurope PMCDOAJ
  4. Revisiting the longitudinal relationships among depressive symptoms, emotion regulation, and perceived social support: evidence from a random intercept cross-lagged panel model.
    Xiang Che, Xuanyu Yao, Miao Hou +5
    International journal of clinical and health psychology : IJCHPPeer-reviewedCC BY-NCFull textEurope PMC
  5. Mutualistic relationships between male inflorescences of Elaeis guineensis Jacquin and its pollinator Elaeidobius kamerunicus Faust (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Derelominae): Comparison between two cultivars for E. kamerunicus progeny emergence in North Sumatra Indonesia
    L. BEAUDOIN-OLLIVIER, F. JACOB, C. MADEC +4
    bioRxivPreprintAll rights reservedFull textEcologybioRxiv

Cite

BibTeXRIS
BibTeX
@article{liu2026elucidating,
  title = {{Elucidating relationships among upward social comparison on social networking sites (SNSs), depressive symptoms, and SNS addiction in college students: insights from structural equation modeling and network analysis}},
  author = {Bin Liu and Mingxuan Zou and Yuting Feng and Lei Ren and Mengze Li and Jiaying Zhang and Niping Qin and Shuo Liu and Qifan Yang and Qun Yang and Zhiping Yang and Daiming Fan},
  journal = {BMC Psychology},
  year = {2026},
  month = aug,
  doi = {10.1186/s40359-026-05325-4},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.1186/s40359-026-05325-4},
  note = {CC BY-NC-ND 4.0},
}
RIS
TY  - JOUR
TI  - Elucidating relationships among upward social comparison on social networking sites (SNSs), depressive symptoms, and SNS addiction in college students: insights from structural equation modeling and network analysis
AU  - Bin Liu
AU  - Mingxuan Zou
AU  - Yuting Feng
AU  - Lei Ren
AU  - Mengze Li
AU  - Jiaying Zhang
AU  - Niping Qin
AU  - Shuo Liu
AU  - Qifan Yang
AU  - Qun Yang
AU  - Zhiping Yang
AU  - Daiming Fan
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/08/10
JO  - BMC Psychology
DO  - 10.1186/s40359-026-05325-4
UR  - https://doi.org/10.1186/s40359-026-05325-4
AB  - Background: With the burgeoning prevalence of social networking sites (SNSs), the likelihood of upward social comparison on SNSs has concomitantly escalated, particularly among college students. Notably, upward social comparison on SNSs has been linked to negative emotions and problematic behaviors, such as depressive symptoms and SNS addiction. However, the interconnections between upward social comparison on SNSs, depressive symptoms, and SNS addiction remain underexplored. Therefore, this study aims to elucidate the relationship between upward social comparison on SNSs, depressive symptoms, and SNS addiction in college students.  Methods: A total of 1,493 Chinese college students participated in this study. Structural equation modeling and network analysis were utilized to investigate the relationships among upward social comparison on SNSs, depressive symptoms, and SNS addiction at both the overall construct and individual item levels. Furthermore, for the network analysis, we utilized two methodologies: regularized partial correlation network (RPCN) and directed acyclic graph (DAG).  Results: Upward social comparison on SNSs was associated with greater depressive symptoms and SNS addiction, and depressive symptoms partially mediated the association between upward social comparison on SNSs and SNS addiction. In the RPCN, “Comparison in handling negative events” served as the central node, while “Comparison with more successful people” functioned as the bridge node. From a probabilistic priority perspective, “Comparison in handling negative events” was identified as an upstream node within the fitted DAG structure, with depressive symptoms mediating the relationship between upward social comparison on SNSs and SNS addiction.  Conclusions: Our study indicates that depressive symptoms partially mediate the association between upward social comparison on SNSs and SNS addiction among Chinese college students in the present sample. Additionally, our analysis highlights the central, bridging, and potential activating roles of specific nodes within the networks. Collectively, these findings offer preliminary clues for future intervention development targeting Chinese college students.
SN  - 2050-7283
ER  -