Current literature suggests problematic social media use (PSMU) predicts reduced social and psychological well-being. Lonely people are more prone to experience the negative outcomes of PSMU, but only few studies have focused explicitly on how loneliness affects the relationship between PSMU and subjective well-being experiences. In this paper, we examine if loneliness influences the association between PSMU and life satisfaction. We used nationally representative cross-sectional data from Finnish social media users (N = 2991) and follow-up panel data (N = 2021). First, we tested if PSMU affects satisfaction with life indirectly through loneliness while controlling for a set of background variables. Next, we examined whether changes in PSMU and loneliness affect life satisfaction over time. First analyses showed that PSMU was associated with life satisfaction negatively, but the effect was largely confounded by loneliness. Longitudinal analysis revealed increased PSMU did not predict decreased satisfaction with life within individuals, but increased PSMU predicted increased loneliness, and increased loneliness predicted decreased satisfaction with life. The analyses indicate that loneliness is a crucial element that contributes to the relationship between PSMU and life satisfaction. In addition, earlier observations that PSMU might increase loneliness over time were confirmed.

当前的文献表明，有问题的社交媒体使用（PSMU）预测社交和心理健康会下降。孤独的人更容易经历PSMU的负面结果，但是只有很少的研究明确地关注孤独如何影响PSMU与主观幸福感之间的关系。在本文中，我们研究了孤独感是否会影响PSMU和生活满意度之间的联系。我们使用了来自芬兰社交媒体用户的全国代表性横截面数据（N = 2991）和后续小组数据（N = 2021）。首先，我们测试了PSMU是否在控制一组背景变量的同时通过孤独感间接影响了人们对生活的满意度。接下来，我们研究了PSMU和孤独感的变化是否会随着时间影响生活满意度。初步分析表明，PSMU与生活满意度负相关，但其影响很大程度上与孤独感混淆。纵向分析显示，增加PSMU并不能预测个人对生活的满意度降低，但是增加PSMU可以预测孤独感的提高，而增加孤独感则可以预测生活满意度的降低。分析表明，孤独感是导致PSMU与生活满意度之间关系的重要因素。另外，证实了PSMU可能随着时间增加孤独感的早期观察。孤独感的增加预示着对生活的满意度降低。分析表明，孤独感是导致PSMU与生活满意度之间关系的重要因素。另外，证实了PSMU可能随着时间增加孤独感的早期观察。孤独感的增加预示着对生活的满意度降低。分析表明，孤独感是导致PSMU与生活满意度之间关系的重要因素。另外，证实了PSMU可能随着时间增加孤独感的早期观察。