A Network Analysis of Facebook Use and Well-being in Relation to Key Psychological Variables: Replication and Extension

Studies exploring the relationship between Facebook use and well-being have yielded inconsistent findings. Investigating the underlying mechanisms seems to be of crucial importance to gain insight into the positive and negative consequences of Facebook use. A recent study illustrated the importance of taking into account social comparison and self-esteem, which serve as central constructs in the relationship between Facebook use and risk for affective disorders. Extending these findings will be key to increase our knowledge on possible risk and/or protective mechanisms. Therefore, we conducted a cross-sectional study (n = 469) to investigate the position of attention control and social capital in this previous reported network. Our results provide a conceptual replication of Faelens et al. (2019). In addition, the findings suggest that attentional control is not strongly connected with the problematic effects of Facebook use. Importantly, (bridging) social capital uniquely connected the variables related to Facebook use with our indicators of vulnerability for affective disorders via social comparison and contingent self-esteem. Possible explanations are discussed.