Impact of learned helplessness on social media-induced secondary traumatic stress: mediation by religious coping and moderation by quality of life

Abstract

The use of social media, which has rapidly increased in recent years, directly or indirectly affects people’s mental health. The aim of this study is to determine the effects of learned helplessness (LH) on social media-induced secondary traumatic stress (STS-SM) and the role of quality of life and religious coping in this relationship in Türkiye. This cross-sectional study sample consisted of 397 Turkish Muslim adults. The results revealed significant links among LH, negative religious coping (NRC), and quality of life with STS-SM. Moderation analyses revealed that perceived high quality of life moderated the positive effect of LH on STS-SM, whereas mediation analyses revealed that NRC partially mediated this relationship. The results support the idea that disturbing content on social media can trigger traumatic stress, especially among individuals who feel helpless and resort to negative religious cpping, butperceivhdhqga quclityofSitegas abuffering effect.