Role of gender in the relationship between maladaptive perfectionism and problematic social media use via coping motives: A moderated mediation study.

Problematic Social Media Use (PSMU) is a mental health issue associated with maladaptive perfectionism. This study examined whether coping motives mediate the relationship between maladaptive perfectionism and PSMU, and whether this mediation is moderated by gender. A total of 212 college students (67.9% women; mean age = 24.78 ± 3.41 years) completed the Frost Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale, the Social Network Site Use Motives Scale-Revised, and the Social Media Addiction Proneness Scale. Results from the moderated mediation analysis indicated that maladaptive perfectionism significantly and positively predicted PSMU, with coping motives mediating this relationship. Furthermore, gender moderated the indirect effect of maladaptive perfectionism on PSMU, with the effect being weaker among women than among men. These findings suggest that gender moderates the indirect pathway linking maladaptive perfectionism to PSMU through coping motives.