Self-concealment, Social Network Sites Usage, Social Appearance Anxiety, Loneliness of High School Students: A Model Testing

Abstract

This study was tested a model for explain to social networks sites (SNS) usage with structural equation modeling (SEM). Using SEM on a sample of 475 high school students (35% male, 65% female) students, model was investigated the relationship between self-concealment, social appearance anxiety, loneliness on SNS such as Twitter and Facebook usage. It was hypothesized that SNS usage was predicted directly by self-concealment, was predicted indirectly by loneliness and social appearance anxiety. The SEM showed that SNS usage was significantly predicted directly by self-concealment and was significantly predicted indirectly by social appearance anxiety and loneliness. It was revealed that the fit indicies of the SEM created (x²: 6.18, df: 2, x²/df: 3.09, p=.04558, RMSEA=.065, GFI=.99, AGFI=.97, NFI=.98, NNFI=.95, CFI=.98, IFI=.98, RMR=.049; SRMR=.028) in fit values. Based on the results social appearance anxiety, self-concealment and loneliness of high school students are remarkable predictors in terms of SNS usage.