A Scoping Review of User Characteristics Moderating the RelationshipBetween Use of Social Networking Sites and Mental Health
summary:
The relationship between social networking sites (SNS) and mental health is influ-enced by individual user characteristics, making it crucial to understand the nature ofthis complex interaction. Despite its importance, however, there is a lack of compre-hensive reviews synthesizing prior studies on how user characteristics moderate therelationship between usage of SNS and mental health. Therefore, to examine how thisissue has been studied in the literature, we conducted a scoping review, focusing onquantitative evidence, including experimental, cross-sectional, longitudinal, andexperience-sampling studies. We provide an overview of (a) user characteristics thathave been examined as moderators of the relationship between (overall, active, orpassive) SNS use and mental health (well-being or ill-being), and (b) methodologicaland theoretical features of these studies. After conducting a systematic databasesearch, followed by title and abstract screening, full-text review of relevant studies,and an interrater reliability check among three authors, we found 30 journal articlesexamining 24 unique moderators. We then applied a narrative synthesis approach todescribe the findings. Most studies were atheoretical, cross-sectional, and relied onconvenience samples. Most moderators (n ¼ 16, 67%) were examined in a single jour-nal article only and for those examined at least twice (gender, social comparisonorientation, neuroticism, extraversion, SNS use motives, Fear of missing out, self-esteem, social capital & social support, and age), results were mixed. However, experi-mental studies revealed that social comparison orientation was the most consistentmoderator, aggravating the negative consequences of passive SNS use on mentalhealth. We outline four recommendations for future studies on the conditional effectsof SNS use on mental health to resolve existing inconsistencies and deepen ourunderstanding of these conditional effects: (a) improving participant sampling, (b)refining the conceptualization and measurement of key variables, (c) accounting forplatform diversity, and (d) incorporating theoretical frameworks.