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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Public Health
Sec. Public Mental Health
Volume 13 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2025.1405372
This article is part of the Research Topic Mindfulness and Resilience in the Digital Age: Addressing Cyberattacks and Enhancing Mental Health and Performance among Adults View all 7 articles
Social Media Utilization, Mindfulness Practice, and Psychological Distress of Nonprofit Workers in China: Mediation Effects of Positive and Negative Affect
Provisionally accepted- 1 Guangxi University, Nanning, Guangxi Zhuang Region, China
- 2 Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, New Brunswick, United States
- 3 Guangdong University of Foreign Studies, Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, China
In the contemporary landscape, the intersection of technology and human behavior has given rise to transformative trends, prominently featuring the emergence of social media.Nevertheless, studies show that adults who heavily depend on these platforms may affect their psychological distress. Conversely, a growing body of research indicates that engaging in mindfulness practices can regulate emotional reactions and contribute to enhanced mental health, resulting in a reduction of psychological distress. Methods: In this investigation, a cross-sectional survey involving 318 adult nonprofit employees in China was conducted to explore the impact of social media utilization and mindfulness practice on psychological distress. The study specifically aimed to examine whether positive and negative affect mediate the relationships between these variables. Structural Equation Modeling was employed to analyze both the direct and indirect effects of social media utilization and mindfulness practice on psychological distress through positive affect (PA) and negative affect (NA). Results: Social media utilization positively influenced positive affect (PA) (β=0.15, p<0.01) but showed no significant impact on negative affect (NA). Mindfulness practice displayed a positive effect on PA (β=0.30, p<0.001) and a negative effect on NA (β=-0.10, p<0.10). PA exhibited a negative effect on psychological distress (β=-0.12, p<0.01), whereas NA had a positive effect on psychological distress (β=0.75, p<0.001).The total effect of mindfulness practice on psychological distress was -0.11 (p<0.01), while social media utilization did not have a significant effect on distress. Discussions: The results indicated that participating in mindfulness practice boosts PA and simultaneously diminishes NA and psychological distress. Despite social media utilization being linked to heightened PA, it did not demonstrate significant effects in mitigating NA or psychological distress. This study underscores the significance of advocating for mindfulness practice as a public health strategy to alleviate NA and psychological distress, while also fostering PA among adults in China.
Keywords: mindfulness practice, negative affect, positive affect, psychological distress, Social media utilization
Received: 22 Mar 2024; Accepted: 20 Mar 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Tu, Huang and Tu. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Chienchung Huang, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, New Brunswick, United States
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