Self-Esteem, Daily Internet Use and Social Media Addiction as Predictors of Depression among Turkish Adolescents

In this study, direct and indirect effects of self-esteem, daily internet use and social media addiction to depression levels of adolescents have been investigated by testing a model. This descriptive study was conducted with 1130 students aged between 12 and 18 who are enrolled at different schools in southern region of Aegean. In order to collect data, “Children's Depression Inventory”, “Rosenberg Self-esteem Scale” and “Social Media Addiction Scale” have been used. In order to test the hypotheses Pearson's correlation and structural equation modeling were performed. The findings revealed that self-esteem and social media addiction predict %20 of the daily internet use. Furthermore, while depression was associated with self-esteem and daily internet use directly, social media addiction was affecting depression indirectly. Tested model was able to predict %28 of the depression among adolescents. Keywords: depression, self-esteem, daily internet use, social media addiction, structural equation modeling