Social and Parasocial Relationships on Social Network Sites and Their Differential Relationships with Users' Psychological Well-Being

2013 ◽  
Vol 16 (7) ◽  
pp. 512-517 ◽  
Author(s):  
Young Min Baek ◽  
Young Bae ◽  
Hyunmi Jang
2021 ◽  
pp. 205015792110286
Author(s):  
Theda Radtke ◽  
Theresa Apel ◽  
Konstantin Schenkel ◽  
Jan Keller ◽  
Eike von Lindern

Smartphone use, e.g., on social network sites or instant messaging, can impair well-being and is related to clinical phenomena, like depression. Digital detox interventions have been suggested as a solution to reduce negative impacts from smartphone use on outcomes like well-being or social relationships. Digital detox is defined as timeouts from using electronic devices (e.g., smartphones), either completely or for specific subsets of smartphone use. However, until now, it has been unclear whether digital detox interventions are effective at promoting a healthy way of life in the digital era. This systematic literature review aimed to answer the question of whether digital detox interventions are effective at improving outcomes like health and well-being, social relationships, self-control or performance. Systematic searches of seven databases were carried out according to PRISMA guidelines, and intervention studies were extracted that examined timeouts from smartphone use and/or smartphone-related use of social network sites and instant messaging. The review yielded k = 21 extracted studies (total N = 3,625 participants). The studies included interventions in the field, from which 12 were identified as randomized controlled trials. The results showed that the effects from digital detox interventions varied across studies on health and well-being, social relationships, self-control, or performance. For example, some studies found positive intervention effects, whereas others found no effect or even negative consequences for well-being. Reasons for these mixed findings are discussed. Research is needed to examine mechanisms of change to derive implications for the development of successful digital detox interventions.


2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. S529-S529
Author(s):  
Daniele Zaccaria ◽  
Georgia Casanova ◽  
Antonio Guaita

Abstract In the last decades the study of older people and social networks has been at the core of gerontology research. The literature underlines the positive health effects of traditional and online social connections and also the social networks’s positive impact on cognitive performance, mental health and quality of life. Aging in a Networked Society is a randomized controlled study aimed at investigating causal impact of traditional face-to-face social networks and online social networks (e.g. Social Network Sites) on older people’ health, cognitive functions and well-being. A social experiment, based on a pre-existing longitudinal study (InveCe - Brain Aging in Abbiategrasso) has involved 180 older people born from 1935 to 1939 living in Abbiategrasso, a municipality near Milan. We analyse effects on health and well-being of smartphones and Facebook use (compared to engagement in a more traditional face-to-face activity), exploiting the research potential of past waves of InveCe study, which collected information concerning physical, cognitive and mental health using international validate scale, blood samples, genetic markers and information on social networks and socio-demographic characteristics of all participants. Results of statistical analysis show that poor social relations and high level of perceived loneliness (measured by Lubben Scale and UCLA Loneliness scale) affect negatively physical and mental outcomes. We also found that gender and marital status mediate the relationship between loneliness and mental wellbeing, while education has not significant effect. Moreover, trial results underline the causal impact of ICT use (smartphones, internet, social network sites) on self-perceived loneliness and cognitive and physical health.


2017 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 274-302 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philippe Verduyn ◽  
Oscar Ybarra ◽  
Maxime Résibois ◽  
John Jonides ◽  
Ethan Kross

2017 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 32-37 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jenna L. Clark ◽  
Sara B. Algoe ◽  
Melanie C. Green

In the early days of the Internet, both conventional wisdom and scholarship deemed online communication a threat to well-being. Later research has complicated this picture, offering mixed evidence about how technology-mediated communication affects users. With the dawn of social network sites, this issue is more important than ever. A close examination of the extensive body of research on social network sites suggests that conflicting results can be reconciled by a single theoretical approach: the interpersonal-connection-behaviors framework. Specifically, we suggest that social network sites benefit their users when they are used to make meaningful social connections and harm their users through pitfalls such as isolation and social comparison when they are not. The benefits and drawbacks of using social network sites shown in existing research can largely be explained by this approach, which also posits the need for studying specific online behaviors in future research.


2011 ◽  
Vol 35 (6) ◽  
pp. 475-481 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lea Pulkkinen ◽  
Anna-Liisa Lyyra ◽  
Katja Kokko

The aim of this study was to investigate the role of social capital assessed in early adulthood in linking self-control in childhood with psychological and social functioning in middle age. Data collected at ages 8, 27, and 42 years were based on the Jyväskylä Longitudinal Study of Personality and Social Development (159 females, 177 males). Self-control was assessed at age 8 using teacher ratings and peer nominations. Social capital at age 27 was operationalized in terms of the breadth of the individuals’ social network and the depth of their close relationships. Psychological functioning at age 42 was indicated by, for instance, psychological well-being, and social functioning was indicated by, for instance, aggression. Results showed for females, but not for males, that social capital partially mediated the link between self-control and psychological well-being, as well as the link between self-control and aggression. In females, higher self-control explained better psychological well-being and lower aggression both directly and indirectly via the breadth of the individual’s social network. In males, both childhood self-control and behavioral activity contributed to the breadth of their social network, which, in turn, contributed to the depth of their close relationships. Deeper relationships explained better psychological well-being and, marginally, lower aggression; male lower aggression was directly accounted for by childhood self-control.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document