Does Mobile Internet Use Affect the Depression of Young Chinese Adults? An Instrumental Variable Quantile Analysis

Background: With the advancement of the digital age, the links between mobile Internet use (MIU) and mental health have attracted the attention of scholars. This paper focuses on the relationship between MIU and depression across the entire distribution of young adults’ depression. Methods: Based on nationally representative data from the 2018 China Family Panel Studies (CFPS), we explore whether and to what extent MIU affects depression in young adults in China through instrumental variables. In addition, we employ a quantile regression approach to explore the depression–MIU gradients and examine potential mediation mechanisms by exploiting variation in several potential intermediates available. Results: 2SLS estimate suggests that MIU is associated with a decrease in young adults’ depression by 1.526 points. Besides, the effect of MIU was only significantly negative at the 0.8 to 0.96 quantiles. Discussions: MIU reduces the level of depression in people with higher levels of depression, older age, and who use the Internet for communicative purposes. However, there is no significant gender difference in MIU. In addition, young people will improve their feeling of social comparison when using mobile Internet, thus making them less depressed. Conclusions: MIU has a significant positive impact on depression among young Chinese adults.