Evening Social Media Use, Sleep Quality and Depressive Symptoms in Young Adults: A Cross-Sectional Online Survey with Mediation Analysis

Evening social media use has been increasingly discussed as a behavioral factor influencing sleep quality and mental health in young adults. Although previous research has demonstrated associations between intensive social media use and depressive symptoms, the underlying mechanisms remain insufficiently understood. The present cross-sectional study examines whether sleep quality mediates the relationship between evening social media use and depressive symptoms. Data were collected through an online survey among young adults in Germany (N = 121; age range 18–36 years, M = 23.9, SD = 3.8). Participants completed Likert-scaled self-report measures assessing evening social media use, sleep quality, depressive symptoms, digital exhaustion, and total screen time. Pearson correlations, multiple regression analyses, and mediation analyses using the PROCESS macro (Model 4) were conducted. Results revealed strong correlations between evening social media use and both reduced sleep quality (r = −0.66, p < 0.001) and depressive symptoms (r = 0.71, p < 0.001). Regression analyses indicated that sleep quality and evening social media use significantly predicted depressive symptoms, whereas total screen time was not significant. Mediation analysis demonstrated that sleep quality partially mediated the effect of evening social media use on depressive symptoms, accounting for approximately 62% of the total effect (B = 0.46, 95% confidence interval (CI) [0.37, 0.57]). The findings highlight sleep quality as a key pathway linking nighttime social media use and depressive symptoms. However, the cross-sectional design precludes causal conclusions. Future longitudinal research is needed to confirm the directionality of these associations.