Association between flaunting behaviors on social media and among the general population in Bangladesh: A cross‐sectional study

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: The number of social media users is growing with each passing day at full tilt, keeping pace with digitalization and technological advances. Despite several advantages, there are also certain negative aspects to using social networking sites (SNS) for communication, amusement, self‐expression, impression management, and other purposes. This study sought to investigate the association between mental health status and flaunting behaviors in social media among the general population in Bangladesh. METHODS: We conducted this nationwide cross‐sectional online survey among 465 people aged between 18 and 60 between October 15, 2021 and January 15, 2022. Following electronic consent, we collected the socio‐demographic profiles and psychometric parameters of the respondents. Additionally, we assessed the diverse perspectives on SNS usage and its relationship to the self‐reported symptoms of depression and loneliness. RESULTS: The estimated prevalence of loneliness and depressive symptoms were 65.16% (mild: 39.57%, moderate: 16.56%, severe: 9.03%) and 55.49% (mild: 26.67%, moderate: 22.15%, severe: 6.67%), respectively. Key factors associated with flaunting on social media were mental health issues such as depression and loneliness. Several social factors were also considered, such as being young, of the male sex, unmarried, illiterate, a student, urban dwelling, average economic status, nuclear family structure, types of SNSs, checking social media first in the morning, and the use of SNS for gaining popularity. CONCLUSION: A significant portion of SNS users reported symptoms of mental illness. Current study findings urge for longitudinal studies with larger sample sizes to have a nearly equal distribution of users from each social media platform for in‐depth exploration of how user attitudes about SNSs and site usage patterns impact the general public's mental health. We suggest that regulating SNS usage patterns and treatment approaches would improve the situation.