Digital self-presentation inauthenticity and psychological distress among youth: a combined serial and parallel mediation model through online social comparison, digital identity confusion, and fear of missing out.

BACKGROUND

Modern youth navigate a complex duality between their physical selves and curated digital personas. This study investigated the relationship between digital self-presentation inauthenticity (DSPI) and psychological distress (PD) among Malaysian youth. Integrating the dramaturgical framework, self-discrepancy theory, and social comparison theory, the research tested three primary pathways: a serial chain mediated by online social comparison (OSC) and digital identity confusion (DIC), and two parallel pathways mediated independently by OSC and fear of missing out (FoMO).

METHODS

A quantitative study was conducted with data collected from 689 Malaysian youth. Hypotheses were tested using a combined serial and parallel mediation model via bootstrapped mediation analysis.

RESULTS

All three indirect effects were statistically significant. The serial mediation (inauthenticity → OSC → DIC → distress) was the most robust pathway (b = 0.078, 95% CI [0.047, 0.116]), followed by parallel mediation via FoMO (b = 0.094, 95% CI [0.059, 0.135]) and OSC (b = 0.049, 95% CI [0.018, 0.085]). Notably, the direct effect of inauthenticity on PD became non-significant after controlling for mediators, indicating that the direct association was no longer statistically significant after accounting for the proposed mediators. This pattern is consistent with indirect associations through these variables but, given the cross-sectional design, should not be interpreted as evidence of full mediation. The final model explained 33.1% of the variance in PD.

CONCLUSION

The findings identify DIC and FoMO as critical predictors of youth mental health. This study provides theoretical insights into the mechanisms of digital identity and offers preliminary directions for future research and intervention development rather than empirically supported recommendations for clinical practice.