Help-seeking behaviors among survivors of intimate partner violence during pregnancy in 54 LMICs

Abstract

attenuated after including covariates. In unadjusted path analysis, more social media use was associated with lower self-esteem (b =-0.10, p < 0.05), which in turn was associated with more mental health problems (b =-6.80, p < 0.001). The indirect effect (b = 0.70, p < 0.05) showed that 68% of the effect of social media use on mental health two years later was mediated by self-esteem. This relationship was attenuated after adjusting for covariates and in imputed data, and social connectedness was not associated. Conclusions: This study shows the importance of longitudinal evidence, as we found there was little evidence to suggest a causal relationship between social media use and mental health issues two years later. Interventions that address social media use alone may not improve young people's mental health but those that consider factors like self-esteem may be more effective. Key messages: Longitudinal data suggests there is limited evidence that high social media use causes poorer mental health in adolescents despite indications from cross-sectional analyses. Policy makers should consider that targeting social media use alone is unlikely to prevent poor adolescent mental health and factors like self-esteem may be more important prevention targets. Abstract citation ID: ckac129.055