scholarly journals Social Media and Cyber-Bullying in Autistic Adults

Author(s):  
Paraskevi Triantafyllopoulou ◽  
Charlotte Clark-Hughes ◽  
Peter E. Langdon

AbstractSocial media can lead to rejection, cyber-bullying victimisation, and cyber-aggression, and these experiences are not fully understood as experienced by autistic adults. To investigate this, 78 autistic adults completed self-report measures of social media use, cyber-bullying victimisation, cyber-aggression, and self-esteem. High levels of social media use were found to be associated with an increased risk of cyber-victimisation; whereas self-esteem was positively correlated with feelings of belonging to an online community and negatively correlated with feelings of being ignored on social network sites and chat rooms. Future studies are needed to further investigate the experience of cyber-bullying victimisation of autistic adults.

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nan Zhao ◽  
Guangyu Zhou

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic is likely to enhance the risk of addictive social media use (SMU) as people spend more time online maintaining connectivity when face-to-face communication is limited. Stress is assumed to be a critical predictor of addictive SMU. However, the mechanisms underlying the association between stress and addictive SMU in crises like the current COVID-19 situation remain unclear. The present study aimed to understand the relationship between COVID-19 stress and addictive SMU by examining the mediating role of active use and social media flow (i.e., an intensive, enjoyable experience generated by SMU that perpetuates media use behaviors). A sample of 512 Chinese college students (Mage = 22.12 years, SD = 2.47; 62.5% women) provided self-report data on COVID-19 stress and SMU variables (i.e., time, active use, flow, addictive behavior) via an online survey from March 24 to April 1, 2020. The results showed that COVID-19 stress was positively associated with tendencies toward addictive SMU. Path analyses revealed that this relationship was significantly serially mediated by active use and social media flow, with SMU time being controlled. Our findings suggest that individuals who experience more COVID-19 stress are at increased risk of addictive SMU that may be fostered by active use and flow experience. Specific attention should be paid to these high-risk populations and future interventions to reduce addictive SMU could consider targeting factors of both active use and social media flow.


2017 ◽  
Vol 120 (3) ◽  
pp. 475-490 ◽  
Author(s):  
Geir Scott Brunborg ◽  
Jasmina Burdzovic Andreas ◽  
Elisabeth Kvaavik

Objectives Little is known about the consequences of adolescent social media use. The current study estimated the association between the amount of time adolescents spend on social media and the risk of episodic heavy drinking. Methods A school-based self-report cross-sectional study including 851 Norwegian middle and high school students (46.1% boys). Measures: frequency and quantity of social media use. Frequency of drinking four or six (girls and boys, respectively) alcoholic drinks during a single day (episodic heavy drinking). The MacArthur Scale of Subjective Social Status, the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale – Brief, the Brief Sensation Seeking Scale, the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 items for Adolescents, the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire Peer Relationship problems scale, gender, and school grade. Results Greater amount of time spent on social media was associated with greater likelihood of episodic heavy drinking among adolescents ( OR = 1.12, 95% CI (1.05, 1.19), p = 0.001), even after adjusting for school grade, impulsivity, sensation seeking, symptoms of depression, and peer relationship problems. Conclusion The results from the current study indicate that more time spent on social media is related to greater likelihood of episodic heavy drinking among adolescents.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amy J. Lim ◽  
Clement Lau ◽  
Norman P. Li

Existing meta-analyses have shown that the relationship between social media use and self-esteem is negative, but at very small effect sizes, suggesting the presence of moderators that change the relationship between social media use and self-esteem. Employing principles from social comparison and evolutionary mismatch theories, we propose that the social network sizes one has on social media play a key role in the relationship between social media use and self-esteem. In our study (N = 123), we showed that social media use was negatively related to self-esteem, but only when their social network size was within an evolutionarily familiar level. Social media use was not related to self-esteem when people’s social networks were at evolutionarily novel sizes. The data supported both social comparison and evolutionary mismatch theories and elucidated the small effect size found for the relationship between social media use and self-esteem in current literature. More critically, the findings of this study highlight the need to consider evolutionarily novel stimuli that are present on social media to better understand the behaviors of people in this social environment.


SAGE Open ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 215824402110054
Author(s):  
Xiaoyi Shao ◽  
Xiaoli Ni

The current study explored the multiple effects of social media use and its moderation mechanism between intimate family environment and self-esteem in adolescents. In all, 1,040 males and 1,201 females below age 25 have participated in this study. Hypothesis and research questions were proposed and examined by statistical analysis, consisting of statistical description, Pearson’s correlation analysis, independent-samples t test, multiple linear regression, simple-slope analysis, and moderation plot. Supportive social media use was identified as a moderator among all participants. Gender differences were found to exist in this moderation mechanism. Male adolescents tended to use social media as a habit, while female adolescents preferred to use social media for seeking support. The habitual social media use moderated the association between intimate family environment and self-esteem in male adolescents; the supportive social media use moderated the same procedure in female adolescents; however, both moderations were only found to be significant in the group of high habitual or supportive social media use, respectively.


2021 ◽  
Vol 114 ◽  
pp. 106528
Author(s):  
Silje Steinsbekk ◽  
Lars Wichstrøm ◽  
Frode Stenseng ◽  
Jacqueline Nesi ◽  
Beate Wold Hygen ◽  
...  

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Valentina Boursier ◽  
Francesca Gioia ◽  
Alessandro Musetti ◽  
Adriano Schimmenti

The outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) prompted people to face a distressing and unexpected situation. Uncertainty and social distancing changed people's behaviors, impacting on their feelings, daily habits, and social relationships, which are core elements in human well-being. In particular, restrictions due to the quarantine increased feelings of loneliness and anxiety. Within this context, the use of digital technologies has been recommended to relieve stress and anxiety and to decrease loneliness, even though the overall effects of social media consumption during pandemics still need to be carefully addressed. In this regard, social media use evidence risk and opportunities. In fact, according to a compensatory model of Internet-related activities, the online environment may be used to alleviate negative feelings caused by distressing life circumstances, despite potentially leading to negative outcomes. The present study examined whether individuals who were experiencing high levels of loneliness during the forced isolation for COVID-19 pandemic were more prone to feel anxious, and whether their sense of loneliness prompted excessive social media use. Moreover, the potentially mediating effect of excessive social media use in the relationship between perceived loneliness and anxiety was tested. A sample of 715 adults (71.5% women) aged between 18 and 72 years old took part in an online survey during the period of lockdown in Italy. The survey included self-report measures to assess perceived sense of loneliness, excessive use of social media, and anxiety. Participants reported that they spent more hours/day on social media during the pandemic than before the pandemic. We found evidence that perceived feelings of loneliness predicted both excessive social media use and anxiety, with excessive social media use also increasing anxiety levels. These findings suggest that isolation probably reinforced the individuals' sense of loneliness, strengthening the need to be part of virtual communities. However, the facilitated and prolonged access to social media during the COVID-19 pandemic risked to further increase anxiety, generating a vicious cycle that in some cases may require clinical attention.


Author(s):  
Guyonne Rogier ◽  
Sara Beomonte Zobel ◽  
Patrizia Velotti

The COVID-19 outbreak has been shown to have had a negative impact on mental health: furthermore, lockdown measures may have increased levels of loneliness and addiction. Preliminary studies indicated an increased frequency of gaming and social media use during this time and augmented levels of loneliness likely account for the increase in gaming and social media addiction during lockdown. We conducted a longitudinal study administering a battery of self-report questionnaires at the beginning of lockdown (Stage 1) and three days before the end of the lockdown (Stage 2). Specifically, we measured loneliness feelings, frequency of gaming, and social media use, as well as both gaming and social media addiction. Data were analysed using Structural Equation Modeling. We found that loneliness levels longitudinally predicted both gaming and social media addiction, even when controlling for gaming and social media use at Stage 1. Increased feelings of loneliness, a well-known risk factor for gaming, along with social media addiction, may be a central variable heightening vulnerability to the onset or the maintenance of technological addiction during forced social isolation. Thus, future preventive interventions may want to target this issue.RésuméL’éclosion de la COVID-19 a eu un effet nuisible sur la santé mentale. De plus, les mesures de confinement ont intensifié la solitude et les addictions. Les études préliminaires indiquent une augmentation de la fréquence d’utilisation des jeux vidéo et des médias sociaux pendant cette période. Cette hausse est probablement attribuable à l’accroissement de la solitude. Nous avons mené une étude longitudinale à l’aide d’une batterie de questionnaires d’autoévaluation, qui ont été remplis au début du confinement (étape 1) et trois jours avant la fin du confinement (étape 2). En particulier, nous avons mesuré le sentiment de solitude, la fréquence d’utilisation des jeux vidéo et des médias sociaux, et la dépendance aux jeux vidéo et aux médias sociaux. Nous avons eu recours à la modélisation par équation structurelle pour analyser les données. Nous avons observé que le niveau de solitude est un prédicteur longitudinal de la dépendance aux jeux vidéo et aux médias sociaux, en contrôlant par l’effet de l’utilisation des jeux vidéo et des médias sociaux observée à l’étape 1. Le sentiment accru de solitude, qui est un facteur de risque connu de dépendance aux jeux vidéo et aux médias sociaux, pourrait être une variable centrale de l’accroissement de la vulnérabilité au développement ou à la persistance d’une dépendance à la technologie dans un contexte d’isolement social imposé. Par conséquent, les interventions à venir en matière de prévention pourraient cibler ce problème.


2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (35) ◽  
pp. 289-297
Author(s):  
Faieza Samat ◽  
Tengku Elmi Azlina Tengku Muda ◽  
Syafiqah Mohd Yusof ◽  
Aina Afiqah Abdul Halim

This research aimed to determine the level of social media use among pre-university students and the association between social media use with self-esteem and psychological distress. Participants of this study were 173 students from ASASIpintar pre-university program in Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia. Instruments used were three sets of questionnaires obtained from Gupta and Bashir (2018), Lovibond and Lovibond (1995), and Rosenberg (1965). This study showed that the level of social media use among ASASIpintar students was moderate while social media use was positively associated with self-esteem and psychological distress.


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