Social Media Use and its Association with Sexual Risk and Parental Monitoring among a Primarily Hispanic Adolescent Population

(1) Background: The use of social media has become an integral part of adolescents’ daily lives. However, the intensive use of social media can develop into a health-threatening addiction, but unfavourable health consequences can occur even with less use. Social media user groups categorized as no-risk, moderate risk (of developing problematic behaviour), and problematic use were examined with reference to their prevalence, their associations with individual determinants and health, and the increased health risk between groups. (2) Methods: The Finnish nationally representative HBSC data (persons aged 11, 13, and 15, n = 3408) and descriptive and binary logistic regression analysis were applied. (3) Results: Problematic social media use (9.4%) was most common among older age groups, and among persons with moderate/low school achievement, low health literacy, and low parental monitoring. Belonging to a moderate risk group (33.5%) was most frequent among girls, and among adolescents with low/moderate parental monitoring and health literacy. All the negative health indicators systematically increased if the respondent belonged to a moderate risk or problematic use group. (4) Conclusions: The study confirmed the association between problematic social media use and negative health outcomes and highlighted the need to pay close attention to adolescents at moderate risk who exhibited negative health outcomes.

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It’s the Content That Counts: Longitudinal Associations between Social Media Use, Parental Monitoring and Alcohol Use in an Australian Sample of Adolescents Aged 13 to 16 Years

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health ◽

10.3390/ijerph18147599 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 18 (14) ◽

pp. 7599

Author(s):

Anna Smout ◽

Cath Chapman ◽

Marius Mather ◽

Tim Slade ◽

Maree Teesson ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Social Media ◽

Alcohol Use ◽

Parental Monitoring ◽

Media Use ◽

Critical Factor ◽

Media Content ◽

School Students ◽

Social Media Use ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

The Impact

(1) Background: More time spent on social media has been linked to increased alcohol use, with exposure to peer alcohol-related content on social media (content exposure) named as a critical factor in this relationship. Little is currently known about whether early content exposure may have lasting effects across adolescent development, or about the capacity of parental monitoring of social media use to interrupt these links. (2) Methods: These gaps were addressed in both cross-sectional and longitudinal contexts among a longitudinal sample of Australian secondary school students (n = 432) across the ages of 13–16. (3) Results: Evidence was found for links between social media use and alcohol use frequency in early development. Social media time at age 13 was significantly associated with concurrent alcohol use frequency. At age 13, alcohol use frequency was significantly higher among those who reported content exposure compared to those who reported no exposure. Longitudinally, the frequency of alcohol use over time increased at a faster rate among participants who reported content exposure at age 13. In terms of parental monitoring, no longitudinal effects were observed. However, parental monitoring at age 13 did significantly reduce the concurrent relationship between alcohol use frequency and content exposure. (4) Conclusion: The impact of social media content exposure on alcohol use in adolescence may be more important than the time spent on social media, and any protective effect of parental monitoring on content exposure may be limited to the time it is being concurrently enacted.

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Social media’s enduring effect on adolescent life satisfaction

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences ◽

10.1073/pnas.1902058116 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 116 (21) ◽

pp. 10226-10228 ◽

Cited By ~ 85

Author(s):

Amy Orben ◽

Tobias Dienlin ◽

Andrew K. Przybylski

Keyword(s):

Social Media ◽

Life Satisfaction ◽

Large Scale ◽

Media Use ◽

Strong Predictor ◽

Well Being ◽

Social Media Use ◽

Adolescent Population ◽

Adolescent Life Satisfaction ◽

Gender Specific

In this study, we used large-scale representative panel data to disentangle the between-person and within-person relations linking adolescent social media use and well-being. We found that social media use is not, in and of itself, a strong predictor of life satisfaction across the adolescent population. Instead, social media effects are nuanced, small at best, reciprocal over time, gender specific, and contingent on analytic methods.

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Exploring Parents’ Intentions to Monitor and Mediate Adolescent Social Media Use and Implications for School Nurses

The Journal of School Nursing ◽

10.1177/1059840520983286 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 105984052098328

Author(s):

Kimberly D. Douglas ◽

Kandy K. Smith ◽

Mary W. Stewart ◽

Jean Walker ◽

Leandro Mena ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Social Media ◽

Health Care Professionals ◽

Parental Monitoring ◽

Social Connectedness ◽

Online Survey ◽

Media Use ◽

Screening Tools ◽

Social Media Use ◽

Positive Attitudes ◽

Media Monitoring

Social media may promote health and social connectedness, but its misuse and frequency of use may pose risks. Social media use during adolescence requires parental monitoring and mediation to mitigate potentially harmful effects such as depression, anxiety, and risk-taking behaviors. While parents and health care professionals convey concern surrounding exposure to inappropriate content, prolonged screen time, and cyberbullying, appropriate social media monitoring remains challenging. The purpose of this study was to explore parental monitoring and mediation of social media use in adolescents. Online recruitment yielded a nationwide sample ( n = 836) of parents of adolescents. The results of the online survey indicated that parents are concerned about adolescent social media use and endorse positive attitudes toward monitoring. Yet parents perceived little control over monitoring. Findings from this study support the school nurse in promoting healthy social media use, media literacy among parents and adolescents, and the use of screening tools.

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