Self‐Rumination in Response to Multidimensional Digital Stress as a Common Vulnerability Factor to Depression in Adolescence

ABSTRACT

As online social platforms become a necessity, stress has gradually emerged in the online domain. Previous studies lacked comparative studies on the effects of different types of digital stress on adolescent depression, and the mechanisms of influence remain unclear. Thus, this study aims to clarify the pathways from multidimensional digital stress to adolescent depression. Stratified random sampling was conducted to obtain a sample of 1115 Chinese junior and senior high school students for a survey. Results revealed that availability stress, social comparison and online vigilance were positively related to adolescent depression, but approval anxiety was negatively related to adolescent depression. Fear of missing out and connection overload were not significantly related to depression. Self‐rumination significantly mediated the association of availability stress, approval anxiety, online vigilance and connection overload with depression. For social work practitioners, these results underscore the need to differentiate among digital stress in clinical assessments and to prioritize cognitive‐behavioural strategies that interrupt self‐ruminative cycles, rather than solely focusing on screen‐time reduction.