The Relationships Among Young Adults’ Perceived Stress, Social Media Use, Self-Compassion, Sleep Quality, and Well-Being

Eleanor A. Speidel

Advisor: Jerome Short, PhD, Department of Psychology

Committee Members: Leah Adams, Sarah Nowaczyk

Online Location, https://gmu.zoom.us/j/91371985806 (Meeting ID: 913 7198 5806)
August 12, 2025, 10:00 AM to 12:00 PM

Abstract:

Young adults have reported more sleep difficulties and emotional distress in recent years. My two studies examined social media use, sleep quality, self-compassion, and perceived stress that may help explain the relationships between sleep difficulties and emotional well-being for 216 young adults. For Study 1, I conducted a daily diary study examining the relationships between daily social media use, daily sleep quality and satisfaction, and trait self-compassion. Specifically, self-compassion moderated the relationship between daily social media use and daily sleep quality and satisfaction. Perhaps young adults who are more self-compassionate experience healthy sleep after a day with high social media use and/or low satisfaction with their social media use. For Study 2, I examined the relationships between perceived stress, sleep quality and self-compassion, and life satisfaction and distress over 29 days. Day 15 self-compassion mediated the relationships between day 1 perceived stress and day 29 life satisfaction, anxiety, and depression. Perhaps young adults who report more perceived stress but have higher self-compassion comfort themselves and then report greater life satisfaction and less depression and anxiety than those who have lower levels of self-compassion. Sleep quality was not a significant mediator, but it predicted anxiety and depression 14 days later. The results suggest that interventions for young adults that increase self-compassion and sleep quality will improve their well-being.