Mediating Role of Satisfaction with Life in the Effect of Self-Esteem and Education on Social Media Addiction in Turkey

: The increasing use of social media due to various individual and social reasons may trigger some psycho-social issues. What can be effective in reducing social media addiction, which causes social and economic problems, is an important issue today. This study aimed to investigate the mediation effect of satisfaction with life in the impact of self-esteem and education level on social media addiction in individuals. The study was designed as cross-sectional, and the sample consists of 952 volunteers over the age of 15 using social media in Turkey. A personal information form, the Bergen Social Media Addiction Scale, the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, and the Satisfaction with Life Scale were used as data collection tools in the study. The data were analyzed with SPSS 23.0 Program and PROCESS macro plug-in. Demographic questions such as age, gender, and marriage were used as control variables. As a result of the research, it was determined that satisfaction with life had a mediation role in the effect of self-esteem and education level on social media addiction. Self-esteem and education level improved satisfaction with life, and increased satisfaction with life resulted in less social media addiction. These results demonstrate the importance of implementing speciﬁc practices based on self-esteem and education, especially for vulnerable groups, to minimize the problems that may arise with the excessive use of digital apps and social media.


Introduction
Self-esteem is a structure formed by the sum of positive or negative thoughts about oneself [1]. For this reason, the self-structure of the individuals and their attitudes towards this structure may cause various health problems. One of them is the addiction that comes with active and uncontrolled social media use. Social media channels, which increase and develop in parallel with the development of the internet and technology, have brought many problems with their increasing usage.
Social media applications used by people of all ages cause many health problems, such as social media addictions, when they are out of beneficial usage [2]. Social media addiction poses a risk in public health, increasing social media usage rates [3,4]. In addition, the increase in relationships and friendships established through social media channels, the uncontrolled daily use of social media, and spending most of the days on these platforms can break individuals' daily routines [5]. This process causes an increase in psycho-social problems, social media addiction, and a decrease in individuals' life satisfaction.
The study was founded on Mruk's theory that poor self-esteem predisposes people to mental diseases such as depression, anxiety, learning difficulties, and addiction [6]. Furthermore, the literature emphasizes self-esteem and education in preventing and treating tech-based addiction [7][8][9][10]. Therefore, we examined the relationship between self-esteem, education level, personality traits, social media addiction, and life satisfaction. For this aim, the effect of self-esteem on individuals' satisfaction with life and social media addiction, specifically, what kind of mediating role satisfaction with life has in the effect of self-esteem and education level on social media addiction, was investigated. In this effect, demographic variables such as age, gender, and marital status were used as control variables.
We started our study with a research question. This research question is: how do self-esteem, education level, satisfaction with life, and demographic variables associate with social media addiction? In the study, satisfaction with life's mediation role had an effect in the impact of self-esteem and education level on social media addiction. According to these results, educational institutions, society, families, and individuals should focus on policies that will increase education level and self-esteem and produce preventive and protective policies against social media addiction, covering all segments of society.

Social Media Addiction
Through social media, individuals present their content such as emotions, thoughts, pictures, photographs, and music to other people's likes or follow others' accounts [11][12][13][14]. Thus, mutual interaction leads to the rapid spread of social media in the world. According to the latest data, Turkey is located in the top five most active countries in the world in social media usage. While the second in Europe in social media usage, Turkey ranks first in the Middle East. According to the latest data of 2020, 54 million people are users of social media in Turkey. In addition to using social media for an average of 7.5 h a day, the age group with the most use was between 25-34 in 2019 [15,16].
Addiction is an overwhelming desire for a person or an object and harms individuals spiritually, physically, or psychologically. Although the first thing that comes to mind with the concept of addiction is substance addiction, many types of behavioral addiction, such as the internet, gambling, sex, gaming, and social media addictions, can harm people [17,18]. Behaviors performed in an uncontrolled manner, excessive social media usage, or any substance have a risk of addiction for the individual. In addition, since it does not have a visible effect on the body, especially like chemical addictions, there may be a delay, which can harm the individual, in the awareness of social media addiction [19,20].
Social media addiction is different from other addictions because social media is used in individuals' daily lives. For this reason, the treatment plan in social media addiction should be directed to the control of the person from social media networks, not to remove or prevent access to the individual [5,14]. This situation is one of the factors that create difficulties in treatment. Some conditions, such as fear of missing out (FoMO), make people more vulnerable to anxiety induced by online peer neglect, leading to social media addiction [21]. Dalvi-Esfahani et al. [22] found empathic concern and perspective-taking significantly and negatively predicted social media addiction. In addition, social media addiction is seen as less harmful than other addictions for both the individual and the family, and the low level of consciousness makes treatment difficult. Therefore, it is vital to have significant awareness of the individual's social media usage, understand the negative effects of social media use, control the time spent on social media for time management, and engage in social activities to stay away from the internet [20].
As addiction develops, psychiatric issues such as social relationships and communication skills, sleep-related eating disorders, social isolation, aggression, and impaired social development emerge [5,19,[23][24][25]. Individuals who actively use social media tend to show themselves and their living conditions better than they are. This situation negatively affects the satisfaction with the life of social media users by causing them to feel weaker and inadequate [26,27]. While uncontrolled use of social media causes social and psychological problems in individuals, it can also be used to escape psychological issues such as loneliness, stress, anxiety, negative self-perception, and depression [28,29]. Research shows that social media addiction affects self-esteem, whereas some studies explain that low self-esteem also causes social media addiction [30][31][32]. The current literature indicates a relationship between social media addiction and self-esteem, and both variables have significant and negative effects on each other. Some studies show that people, especially adolescents, tend to use social media to avoid problems that bother them [3,4]. According to the related literature, the following hypotheses were established: Hypothesis 1 (H1). Self-esteem (i) and education level (ii) have a negative effect on social media addiction.

Hypothesis 2 (H2).
There is a negative association between satisfaction with life and social media addiction.

Self-Esteem and Satisfaction with Life
Although "self" is a frequently used concept, it is challenging to define it [33]. The concept is used synonymously with the words personality and I [1]. Self is the name given to all of the individuals' views and perceptions about themselves, shaped by the environment they live in and the personality structures they experience since birth [34]. According to Rosenberg, who developed the Self-Esteem Scale [35], self-esteem is the state of positive evaluations of an individual's personality structure. Low self-esteem increases the risk of depression and the likelihood of suicide ideation and behavior [36]. Naturally, the liking that occurs when people approve of their selves can be positive or negative. People with high self-esteem are more satisfied with themselves than people with low self-esteem. A study of the disadvantaged group of immigrants found that self-esteem and education level increases satisfaction with life [37]. While this level of respect develops through interpersonal relationships, it is also influenced by others [38,39].
Satisfaction with life is a concept that refers to an individual's enjoyment of life and psychological well-being [40]. Factors such as self-esteem, satisfaction with life, and social media, which are essential for an individual's psychology, have gained importance in academic studies [41]. There is generally a positive relationship between self-esteem, education level, and satisfaction with life in literature [4,12,31,36,40,41]. Education provides equal opportunity and quality of life for individuals and supports individuals in looking to the future with hope for themselves and their families [37]. Educated individuals increase their engagement, productivity, relationships with other people, and goals. Therefore, there will be no unnecessary use of social media as they will not have much free time [40]. Individuals who act in line with these goals also increase their satisfaction with life levels. In the research, there are significant relationships between the activities based on the goals, which enable individuals to continue their lives actively and increase their satisfaction with life, while decreasing unnecessary use of social media [42][43][44]. For this reason, education is necessary to have high living standards and improved satisfaction with life [40]. From this perspective, excessive social media use causes individuals to become addicted, stagnating lives and distracting them from life [3,4]. According to studies on social media use, the increase in satisfaction with life negatively affects individuals' social media addictions [9,[43][44][45][46]. Therefore, both self-esteem and high education enable individuals to communicate better with other people, support them to aim better in their careers, increase their satisfaction with life by reducing their spare time, and ultimately reduce their social media addiction [47][48][49][50][51][52][53][54][55]. The following hypotheses were established based on the literature:

Hypothesis 3 (H3).
There is a positive effect of self-esteem (i) and education level (ii) on satisfaction with life.

Hypothesis 4 (H4).
Satisfaction with life has a mediation role in the effect of self-esteem on social media addiction.

Hypothesis 5 (H5).
Satisfaction with life has a mediation role in the effect of education level on social media addiction. Figure 1 illustrates the conceptual model of our study. The model used in the research is PROCESS macro model 4. According to this model, it was assumed that there is a correlation between self-esteem, education level, and social media addiction (H1), and satisfaction with life (H3). In addition, an association was estimated between satisfaction with life and social media addiction (H2). Moreover, satisfaction with life was designed as the mediator variable in the effect of self-esteem and education level (independent variables) on social media addiction (dependent variable). Gender, age, and marital status were used as control variables in the model.  Figure 1 illustrates the conceptual model of our study. The model used in the research is PROCESS macro model 4. According to this model, it was assumed that there is a correlation between self-esteem, education level, and social media addiction (H1), and satisfaction with life (H3). In addition, an association was estimated between satisfaction with life and social media addiction (H2). Moreover, satisfaction with life was designed as the mediator variable in the effect of self-esteem and education level (independent variables) on social media addiction (dependent variable). Gender, age, and marital status were used as control variables in the model. were not shown with model paths since the indirect effect was generated from the effects of more than two paths. Therefore, hypotheses were explained as paths in the lower part of Figure 1.

Study Design, Participants, and Procedure
Relational design was used in the research model. Relational design is used to understand the relationship between two or more variables [56]. The study's data were collected from individuals age over 15 who use social media in Turkey. The reason for the lower age limit is to reach high school students within the study's scope. The study's universe is social media users aged 15 and over, which is about 53 million in Turkey. A total of 952 people were reached using the snowball method through random sampling in line with the determined population. The survey form was prepared on Google Forms. There was no time limit for the participants to fill out the questionnaire, and the participants completed the questionnaire in an average of 5 min. Response to the questionnaire was allowed only once per individual. When they started answering the questionnaire, they were able to end it whenever they wanted. Before answering the questionnaire, all participants were informed about the purpose of the research. During the survey process, no identity information was asked from the participants, and the confidentiality of the study was emphasized. Data collection started on 20 March 2020 and ended on 25 April 2020.
The study was carried out in accordance with the Helsinki Declaration criteria and ethical approval of Istanbul University-Cerrahpaşa.

Study Design, Participants, and Procedure
Relational design was used in the research model. Relational design is used to understand the relationship between two or more variables [56]. The study's data were collected from individuals age over 15 who use social media in Turkey. The reason for the lower age limit is to reach high school students within the study's scope. The study's universe is social media users aged 15 and over, which is about 53 million in Turkey. A total of 952 people were reached using the snowball method through random sampling in line with the determined population. The survey form was prepared on Google Forms. There was no time limit for the participants to fill out the questionnaire, and the participants completed the questionnaire in an average of 5 min. Response to the questionnaire was allowed only once per individual. When they started answering the questionnaire, they were able to end it whenever they wanted. Before answering the questionnaire, all participants were informed about the purpose of the research. During the survey process, no identity information was asked from the participants, and the confidentiality of the study was emphasized. Data collection started on 20 March 2020 and ended on 25 April 2020.
The study was carried out in accordance with the Helsinki Declaration criteria and ethical approval of Istanbul University-Cerrahpaşa.

Data Analysis
Data were transferred from the online survey website to MS Excel for data screening and cleaning and then to the SPSS statistics program. All analyzes were conducted Sustainability 2021, 13, 9097 5 of 14 using IBM SPSS 25 and PROCESS macro plug-in. The demographic characteristics of the participants were analyzed using descriptive analysis. Categorical classifications, means, and standard deviations were represented in the descriptive analysis. In addition, factor analysis of each scale was made to ensure construct validity. Correlation analysis was performed using scales and demographic questions. Multiple regression analysis was used to test the hypotheses, and satisfaction with life and social media scales were defined as dependent, and self-esteem and education level as independent variables. We used the PROCESS macro plug-in to test mediation hypotheses [57,58]. The statistical significance level was determined lower than 0.05.

Measures 2.3.1. Bergen Social Media Addiction Scale
Bergen Social Media Addiction Scale was developed by Andreassen et al. [2]. The scale consists of 6 questions in total. The scale is a 5-point Likert type questionnaire such as "very rare", "rare," "sometimes", "frequently" and "quite frequently". With the scale, some questions were asked, such as "did you feel the desire to use social media more and more?", and "did your use of social media negatively affect your work/study?" Each of the scale items is intended to measure mental occupation, deprivation, mood change, tolerance, conflict, and failed to quit attempts. Turkish validity and reliability of the scale was conducted by Demirci, and its total score ranges between 6-30 [59]. According to the current research data, the Bergen Social Media Addiction Scale's reliability is at a normal level (Cronbach's alpha = 0.778). Furthermore, as a result of the normality analysis applied to the scale, it was found that the distribution showed normality.

Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale
Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale was developed by Rosenberg [60], and consists of 63 questions and 12 subcategories. The self-esteem scale is a short form consisting of 10 items. Short form is used in this study. With the scale, some explanations were asked, such as "I have a positive attitude towards myself", and "I am generally satisfied with myself". The Turkish validity and reliability study of the scale was carried out by Çuhadaroglu [61] on 204 high school students. Cronbach's alpha value of the research is 0.89. High scores from the scale indicate high self-esteem.

Satisfaction with Life Scale
The Satisfaction with Life Scale was developed by Diener et al. in [62]; the scale was translated into Turkish by Daglı and Baysal [63]. The scale measuring the general life satisfaction of individuals consists of 5 questions in total. With the scale, some explanations were asked, such as "my living conditions are excellent", and "I am satisfied with my life". For the evaluation of the scale, it ranges from (1) this statement is absolutely not suitable for me, and (7) this statement is completely appropriate for me. The scale score varies between 5-35 and consists of 5 questions. According to the current research data, it was determined that the reliability of the Satisfaction with Life Scale is high (Cronbach's alpha = 0.88).

Personal Information Form
The form includes demographic questions such as participants' gender, age, marital status, and level of education. Only age was asked open-ended in the demographic questions, while the rest were asked categorically. In the study, demographic questions were considered as control variables, but education level as well as self-esteem factor were used as independent variables.

Findings
In Table 1, 63.4% were women, 36.6% were men, 76.4% were single, and 23.6% were married participants. In addition, the average age of the participants was 26.38 (Sd = 9). When the education levels of the participants were examined, it was seen that the highest Sustainability 2021, 13, 9097 6 of 14 rate was a bachelor's degree with 60.6%, and the education level in the second rank was at the high school education level with 20%, 12.6% graduate, 3.3% secondary school graduates, and 3.6% primary school graduates. The analyzes of the associations between research variables were shown in Table 2. Satisfaction with life in educated and older people was found to be higher (r = 0.081, r = 0.087, p < 0.05, p < 0.01, respectively). There was a negative correlation between age and SMA (r = −0.149, p < 0.01), and also a positive correlation between age, self-esteem, and SWL (r = 0.089, r = 0.087, p < 0.01, p < 0.01, respectively). A significant negative relationship was found between satisfaction with life and social media addiction (r = −0.118, p < 0.01). There was a significant negative correlation between self-esteem and social media addiction (r =−0.119, p < 0.01). A strong positive association was observed between self-esteem and satisfaction with life (r = 0.231, p < 0.01). Therefore, hypothesis H2 was accepted. In Table 3, multiple regression analyzes were conducted to determine the mediating role of satisfaction with life in the effect of self-esteem and education on social media addiction. According to the research data, gender had a significant negative effect on social media addiction. Women's social media addiction was more than men's (B = −0.82, p < 0.05). In addition, marital status had a significant negative effect on social media addiction and satisfaction with life. While singles had a higher social media addiction than married individuals (B = −1.50, p < 0.01), married individuals had a higher satisfaction with life than single individuals (B = 2.52, p < 0.001).
Education level had a significant positive effect on satisfaction with life. According to this effect, satisfaction with life rises as the education level increases (B = 0.76, p < 0.01). Self-esteem had a significant negative effect on social media addiction (B = −0.80, p < 0.01). Self-esteem had a significant positive effect on satisfaction with life (B = 2.09, p < 0.01). Satisfaction with life had a significant negative effect on social media addiction. Therefore, social media addiction decreases as satisfaction with life increases (B = −0.06, p < 0.05). According to the results, hypotheses H1 (i), H3 (i), H3 (ii) were accepted, and H1 (ii) was rejected. Table 3. Main and Interaction Effects on SWL and SMA.

Variable
Step 1: SWL  Table 3 shows that self-esteem and education had a statistically meaningful effect on satisfaction with life (Step 1). While self-esteem negatively affected social media addiction, education did not affect it (Step 2). Additionally, satisfaction with life had a statistically meaningful effect on social media addiction (Step 3). In the last step, where all factors (independents and mediator) were included, self-esteem and satisfaction with life together had a statistically meaningful effect on social media addiction, whereas education level did not affect significantly (Step 3). According to the indirect regression effects shown in Table 4, it was seen that self-esteem had a statistically partial indirect effect on social media addiction through satisfaction with life because the direct impact still persists (γ = −0.1320, SE = 0.0664, 95% CI [−0.2689, −0.0087). In addition, it was determined that satisfaction with life has a full mediating effect on the effect of education level on social media addiction (γ = −0.0480, SE = 0.0300, 95% CI [−1.1175, −0.0027). Although there is no direct effect, a significant indirect effect was determined via the mediating variable in the effect of education level on social media addiction. In this sense, satisfaction with life had a partial mediating effect on the effect of self-esteem on social media addiction, whereas satisfaction with life had a full mediating effect on the effect of education level on social media addiction. Therefore, hypotheses H4 and H5 were accepted.

Discussion
In our study, the effect of self-esteem and education level on social media addiction was examined. In addition, the mediating role of satisfaction with life was evaluated in this effect. Thus, our hypotheses were tested by analyzing direct and mediating effects. Accordingly, hypotheses H1 (i), H2, H3 (i), H3 (ii), H4, H5 were accepted, and H1 (ii) was rejected.
The study revealed that satisfaction with life had a mediator role in the effect of self-esteem and education level on social media addiction. The partial mediating effect of satisfaction with life in the effect of self-esteem on social media addiction and a full mediating effect of satisfaction with life in the effect of education level on social media addiction were determined. According to these data, satisfaction with life improves as self-esteem increases. While satisfaction with life improves as self-esteem increases, the rise in satisfaction with life had a negative and significant effect on social media addiction. Accordingly, increased self-esteem negatively affected social media addiction through the satisfaction with life mediation variable. However, since the direct effect between selfesteem and social media addiction continues, satisfaction with life was partially mediated.
Furthermore, satisfaction with life had a full mediation effect on the impact of education level on social media addiction. Since the total and direct effect, between education level and social media addiction was not significant, and there was a significant indirect effect through the mediating variable and satisfaction with life, a full mediation was determined.
When the current literature was examined, studies showed a significant negative relationship between social media use and self-esteem, in support of the research findings [64][65][66][67][68][69][70][71]. It was seen that the data obtained from these studies support the results of our research. Studies byŞahin and Kumcak [68] and Thadani and Cheung [32] similarly emphasize that self-esteem had a significant negative relationship with social media addiction. In contrast, some studies did not find a significant relationship between the use of social media and self-esteem. For example, in the Greenberg [72] study, there was no important association between the forms of addiction and self-esteem. Similarly, some reports had not established a significant association between negative internet usage and self-esteem [73]. These results indicate that the association between social media addiction and self-esteem remains subject to detailed research.
There was a direct and significant relationship between satisfaction with life and social media addiction. A study conducted by Balcı and Koçak [69] found that as individuals' satisfaction with life increases, their social media addiction decreases significantly. According to a survey conducted by Longstreet and Brooks [44], there was a significant negative relationship between satisfaction with life and social media addiction. Likewise, studies with findings indicate that satisfaction with life negatively affects social media use [27,64,66,74]. According to another study conducted on Facebook users, similar data were obtained indicating that social media addiction decreases as satisfaction with life increases [9,43]. According to other studies, no significant relationships were found between social media use and satisfaction with life [75,76].
Similar studies trying to examine the mediation effect of self-esteem in the impact of satisfaction with life on social media addiction were examined. It was understood that there were no similar studies in the national literature, but there were few studies in the international literature. According to a survey conducted by Chasanah et al. [4], it was concluded that self-esteem had a mediating role between satisfaction with life and social media addiction and that there was a significant positive relationship between satisfaction with life and self-esteem. In other studies, it was found that self-esteem had a mediating role between social media addiction and satisfaction with life [77,78].
According to the findings obtained from the research, it was seen that the group with the highest social media addiction in terms of marital status and gender was women and singles. It was observed that married individuals had higher satisfaction with life than single individuals, and satisfaction with life increased as the education level increased. Research conducted by Hawi and Samaha [79] showed that women's social media addiction level was higher than men's. Similarly, according to studies, women's social media usage and addiction levels were higher than men's [67,75,76,80], also studies found that social media addiction levels do not vary in terms of gender [81,82]. Studies also found that men's social media addiction and usage rates were greater than women's [65]. Likewise, in a number of research undertaken by Güler [83] and Özdaş [84], married individuals have higher satisfaction with life than single individuals, supporting our analysis. In a study by Kaya [85], it was found that, as the level of education rises, satisfaction with life increases, and the rate of social media usage among women was higher than that of men. Research by Kirişoglu showed a significant effect of marital status and education on satisfaction with life. It was determined that married people, women, in older age, and college graduates were more satisfied with life and married, men, in older age, and educated had more self-esteem [86]. Consistent with the results of our study, it was determined in the literature that the age variable has a positive association with self-esteem and satisfaction with life. In contrast, it has a negative correlation with the internet and social media addiction [86][87][88][89][90][91][92]. However, in the literature, it was seen that the use of the internet and social media by the elderly to spend time, socialize, shop, and find old friends have been increasing [93,94].
When the literature was examined, the national and international studies that examine three variables simultaneously were quite inadequate; for this reason, this study was thought to contain originality in terms of its results. Before starting the study, a research question was asked: how does self-esteem, education level, satisfaction with life, and demographic variables associate with social media addiction? Therefore, with the present study, we wanted to examine the role of self-esteem and education level in the effect on social media addiction and whether satisfaction with life has a mediating effect in this role.
With the widespread use of digital technologies and the internet in all areas, social media is now used by all segments of society, reaching levels that will make it addictive. The internet and social media, which can be accessed from anywhere, disrupt our daily behavior by causing home, workplace, school, and private life to become intertwined. Due to the benefits of digital technologies and the internet, it is no longer possible not to use them. However, technology addiction and social media addiction have become essential problems with the increasing use of smartphones. Therefore, online digital technologies should be used in a more balanced and responsible manner.
Since social media addiction is a behavioral addiction, it will be possible to reduce social media addiction by changing behaviors. Therefore, we included self-esteem and education, which can change human behavior in our model, and examined their relationship to social media addiction. We understood that self-esteem and education increase individuals' satisfaction with life levels and increasing satisfaction with life in individuals reduces social media addiction. We found a positive correlation between age and self-esteem and satisfaction with life and a negative correlation between age and social media addiction in the study. It was determined that the satisfaction with life and self-esteem levels of married people and social media addictions of singles and women were high. According to demographic comparisons, young people, singles, and women were at higher risk for social media addiction.
It was understood that self-esteem and education are crucial in reducing social media addiction. Furthermore, self-esteem and education are phenomena that increase individuals' responsibilities regarding their families, social circles, and careers. Therefore, in the fight against technology addiction and social media addiction, which are increasingly disrupting the daily lives of individuals and threatening the future of their society, policies, and practices that will strengthen the self-esteem and education in individuals to take responsibility should be encouraged.

Limitations of the Study
The sample size of this study and its representation of different groups are its strengths. However, the study's weaknesses are that the data were collected over a period of time, the possibility of self-reporting of individuals causing potential bias, and a large number of students among the participants, and the small number of older people. In addition, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, questionnaires were distributed online through health faculty students in which the rate of women students is about 75%. For this reason, full equal distribution of demographic data in male and female, low and highly educated, single, and married groups could not be achieved. In addition, one of the reasons why there are more young and educated people is that they use the online environment more easily than the elderly and uneducated. To reach more specific findings in the future, studies focusing on certain groups and showing comparisons between periods are required. Since the study could not be carried out face to face, the participants' situations could not be observed while filling out the questionnaire, but some participants sent feedback about their feelings and thoughts. Therefore, findings obtained in this study are limited to the specified sample.

Conclusions and Some Implications
Social media applications are increasing the number of users day by day by bringing many problems. One of the most important of these problems is addiction. Social media addiction is as dangerous for human health as many other addictions. This situation may result from various social, physical health, and psychological problems of individuals. Ultimately, this process leads to an increase or decrease in the satisfaction with the life of individuals.
As a result of our work, self-esteem and education had an indirect effect via satisfaction with life on social media addiction, and satisfaction with life negatively affected individuals' social media addiction. Considering that satisfaction with life is a whole of positive feelings and thoughts about the individual's life, it was found that this satisfaction decreases social media use and addiction. At the same time, it was concluded that self-esteem had a negative effect on individuals' social media addiction. Ultimately, our study found that self-esteem and education had a significant effect on social media addiction through the satisfaction with life mediation variable.
As a result, it was understood that social media addiction, which may result in physical, mental, and social health, was influenced by personality traits such as self-esteem, education, and satisfaction with life. For this reason, controlled and responsible social media use is essential for both individual and public health. Furthermore, considering the gender, single, and age variable, the increase in self-esteem in women, single and young, had a more positive effect on their life satisfaction and had a negative effect on their social media addiction. Therefore, the empowerment of these disadvantaged groups through self-esteem and education should be considered significant for the future health of Turkish society.
Some policies must be implemented; awareness-raising training activities should be carried out for social media users. Much more comprehensive research is needed on self-esteem. Activities should be organized to reduce the time spent on social media by increasing education, cultural, artistic, and sports activities for young people. Empowering individuals by revealing their self-efficacy and skills and evolving their attitudes towards themselves in a positive way will increase their self-esteem. Therefore, increased selfesteem is critical for providing individual and group mental health leading to satisfaction with life and reducing social media addiction. For this purpose, it is necessary to conduct studies that provide micro and macro perspectives. Furthermore, educational, informative, directive, and empowering policies and activities must be carried out in different segments of society.  Informed Consent Statement: Informed consent was obtained from all subjects involved in the study.

Data Availability Statement:
The data presented in this study are available on request from the corresponding author.