Path analysis results (Study 1).

This research expanded on prior work exploring the relationship between social media use, social support, and mental health by including the usage of social virtual reality (VR). In Study 1 (undergraduate students; n = 448) we examined divergent relationships between problematic social media use (e.g., Facebook, TikTok), total use, and users’ mental health indicators (e.g., depression, anxiety, social isolation). To determine whether problematic social media use patterns extended to immersive 3-D environments, we sampled active social VR users (e.g., Rec Room) in Study 2 (n = 464). Problematic social VR use was related to decreased real-life social support (β = -.62, 95%CI [-.80, -.44]), but not to VR social support (β = -.06, 95%CI [-.25, .14]). Conversely, the amount of social VR use was only related to increased social VR (β = .06, 95%CI [.04, .15]) but not to real-life social support (β = -.02, 95%CI [-.05, .04]). Study 2 also revealed a finding that may be unique to the 3-D immersive environment: the amount of social VR use facilitated better mental health for VR users, but only through stronger perceived social support on social VR but not in real life. This result highlights the potential of immersive media to promote mental well-being by facilitating engaging and meaningful social interactions.

本研究拓展了既往关于社交媒体使用、社会支持与心理健康间关联的研究范畴，新增了社交虚拟现实（social virtual reality, VR）的使用维度。在研究1（被试为本科生，样本量n=448）中，我们考察了问题性社交媒体使用（如Facebook、TikTok）、总使用时长与使用者心理健康指标（如抑郁、焦虑、社交孤立）之间的差异化关联。为验证问题性社交媒体使用模式是否可延伸至沉浸式三维环境，研究2招募了活跃的社交VR用户（如Rec Room），样本量n=464。分析结果显示，问题性社交VR使用与现实社会支持呈显著负相关（回归系数β=−0.62，95%置信区间[−0.80, −0.44]），但与VR场景内的社会支持无显著关联（β=−0.06，95%置信区间[−0.25, 0.14]）。与之相反，社交VR的总使用时长仅与VR场景内社会支持的提升存在显著关联（β=0.06，95%置信区间[0.04, 0.15]），而与现实社会支持无显著关联（β=−0.02，95%置信区间[−0.05, 0.04]）。研究2还发现了一项可能仅适用于沉浸式三维环境的独特结论：社交VR的使用时长可改善VR使用者的心理健康水平，但这一效应仅通过VR场景下感知到的更强社会支持实现，而非依托现实生活中的社会支持。这一结果凸显了沉浸式媒体通过促成投入且富有意义的社交互动，进而提升心理健康水平的潜在价值。