Does excessive social media use decrease subjective well-being? A longitudinal analysis of the relationship between problematic use, loneliness and life satisfaction

2021 ◽  
Vol 59 ◽  
pp. 101556
Author(s):  
Eetu Marttila ◽  
Aki Koivula ◽  
Pekka Räsänen
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emanuela Calandri ◽  
Federica Graziano ◽  
Luca Rollé

The study of the psychological effects of social media use on adolescents’ adjustment has long been the focus of psychological research, but results are still inconclusive. In particular, there is a lack of research on the positive and negative developmental outcomes and on possible moderating variables, especially concerning early adolescence. To fill these gaps in literature, the present study longitudinally investigated the relationships between social media use, depressive symptoms, affective well-being and life satisfaction, as well as the moderating role of emotional self-efficacy and gender. The study involved 336 Italian early adolescents (mean age = 13, sd = 0.3; 48% girls) who completed an anonymous self-report questionnaire twice within a year. Main results showed that higher social media use was related to higher depressive symptoms, lower affective well-being and lower life satisfaction among girls with lower emotional self-efficacy. Conversely, high social media use was related to higher affective well-being and higher life satisfaction for girls with higher emotional self-efficacy. Results are discussed in relation to their implications for risk prevention and health promotion among early adolescents. In particular, our results suggest that promoting emotional self-efficacy can be very helpful in making the use of social media an opportunity for well-being and life satisfaction rather than a developmental risk.


2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 931-931
Author(s):  
Xin Yao Lin ◽  
Margie Lachman

Abstract There are mixed findings as to whether social media use (SMU) is positively or negatively related to well-being (positive/negative affect), and this relationship varies by age. The current study seeks to further explore this relationship by examining physical activity (PA) as a potential mediator at both a within (intraindividual) and between-person (interindividual) level across adulthood. The data are from the Midlife in the United States Refresher eight-day daily diary study (N=782, ages 25-75) with self-reported frequency of SMU, PA, and well-being (positive/negative affect). Multilevel structural equation modeling simultaneously tested how the relationships between the variables differed at both the between- and within-person levels. Between-person results showed that across the week, those who reported less SMU reported engaging in more PA, and more PA was associated with more positive affect. PA significantly mediated the relationship between SMU and positive affect for midlife and older adults, but not for younger adults. Effects for negative affect were not significant. Within-person results indicated that days with more PA were associated with more positive affect; however, PA did not mediate the relationship between SMU and positive or negative affect. These findings suggest the benefits of engaging in PA on one’s positive emotional well-being at both the between- and within-person levels. However, for midlife and older adults, more SMU across the week may take away time from engaging in PA, which in turn lowers their positive affect. Implications of the effects of SMU on PA and well-being across adulthood are discussed.


Author(s):  
Mustafa Savci ◽  
Muhammed Akat ◽  
Mustafa Ercengiz ◽  
Mark D. Griffiths ◽  
Ferda Aysan

AbstractProblematic social media use (PSMU) among adolescents has become an area of increasing research interest in recent years. It is known that PSMU is negatively associated with social connectedness. The present study examined the role of family life satisfaction in this relationship by investigating its mediating and moderating role in the relationship between problematic social use and social connectedness. The present study comprised 549 adolescents (296 girls and 253 boys) who had used social media for at least 1 year and had at least one social media account. The measures used included the Social Media Disorder Scale, Social Connectedness Scale, and Family Life Satisfaction Scale. Mediation and moderation analyses were performed using Hayes’s Process program. Regression analysis showed that PSMU negatively predicted family life satisfaction and social connectedness. In addition, family life satisfaction and PSMU predicted social connectedness. Mediation analysis showed that family life satisfaction had a significant mediation effect in the relationship between PSMU and social connectedness. Family life satisfaction was partially mediated in the relationship between PSMU and social connectedness. Moderation analysis showed that family life satisfaction did not have a significant effect on the relationship between PSMU and social connectedness. The study suggests that family life satisfaction is a meaningful mediator (but not a moderator) in the relationship between problematic social media use and social connectedness.


Marketing ZFP ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 42 (3) ◽  
pp. 37-47
Author(s):  
Vivienne Schünemeyer ◽  
Gianfranco Walsh

Health-related services shared through social media are enjoying considerable growth, particularly among young people, yet they have potentially detrimental outcomes for consumer well-being. This research undertakes an examination of literature pertaining to health-related social media use in an effort to explore its relationship with disordered eating in particular. In line with objectification theory, Study 1 affirms that viewing images and videos posted on health-related social media is positively associated with the level of people’s disordered eating. Furthermore, Study 2 clarifies that this relationship is mediated, as expected, by social physique anxiety, and it also is unexpectedly moderated by general social media use. That is, the relationship between viewing health-related images and videos and disordered eating is stronger among consumers who exhibit low and medium social media use rather than those with high social media use. The implications of these findings are relevant for both health-related service research and public policy.


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