Online self-disclosure and well-being among Vietnamese adolescents: online social support as a mediator
Mental Health and Social Inclusion
ISSN: 2042-8308
Article publication date: 25 May 2022
Issue publication date: 26 September 2022
Abstract
Purpose
Online self-disclosure and online social support have important effects on well-being. The purpose of this study was to examine the indirect effect of online social support through social networking sites (SNSs) in the link between online self-disclosure through SNSs and well-being among Vietnamese adolescents.
Design/methodology/approach
Using a convenience sample of 980 Vietnamese adolescents (332 men, 648 women) and three scales (the Subjective Happiness Scale, the Self-Disclosure Scale and the Two-Way Social Support Scale), this study investigated whether online self-disclosure has a direct and indirect effects on well-being when mediated by online social support.
Findings
Mediation analysis showed that online social support partially mediated the link between online self-disclosure and well-being among Vietnamese adolescents, β = 0.008, standard error = 0.004, confidence interval = [0.001, 0.017].
Originality/value
This study provides an important practical basis for developing interventions to improve the well-being of adolescents who use SNSs. This finding indicated that adolescents’ well-being can be enhanced through online self-disclosure and online social support.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
Funding: The authors have no funding to report.Ethical approval: All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee.Declaration of conflicting interests: Author declares that there is no conflicts of interest.Informed consent: Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in this study.Data availability statement: Research data are not shared.
Citation
Nguyen, H.T. and Ho, T.T.Q. (2022), "Online self-disclosure and well-being among Vietnamese adolescents: online social support as a mediator", Mental Health and Social Inclusion, Vol. 26 No. 4, pp. 339-346. https://doi.org/10.1108/MHSI-01-2022-0003
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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