Use of Instagram and its effect on the Mental Well-being of University Students: A Pakistani Perspective

The use of social media has increased considerably in recent years. The impact of Instagram on university students in low-resource countries such as Pakistan requires further research. According to social media platforms, Pakistan had 54.38 million people aged 18 and older active on social media at the start of 2024. This figure accounts for 38.9 per cent of the total population aged 18 and above and prompted us to examine how Instagram use contributes to social comparison, leading to mental health issues, especially among university students. The study uses quantitative methods and online surveys to explore the relationship between Instagram use and mental well-being. A sample of 515 was recruited from two well-known universities in Islamabad through convenience sampling. The sample includes 515 male and female students aged between 18 and 25, applying a conditional mediation model (CoMe Model) evaluated by SmartPLS. The findings indicate that increased Instagram use strongly predicts decreased self-esteem (β = -0.661, p < .001), which is linked to higher levels of depression (β = -0.439, p < .001). The indirect effect of Instagram use on depression via self-esteem was significant (β = 0.290, p < .001), while the direct effect became non-significant when self-esteem was included, suggesting full mediation. Importantly, the strength of the mediated pathway varied with levels of upward comparison. The indirect effect was lower among those with high levels of upward comparison (β = 0.116) and stronger among those with low levels (β = 0.201), with the moderated mediation index also reaching significance (β = -0.035, p = .016). These results show that the psychological impact of Instagram use on mental health is variable and depends on users’ tendency to compare themselves with others.