Social-Media Use May Explain Little of the Recent Rise in Depressive Symptoms Among Adolescent Girls

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.

Download Full-text

Brief report: Problematic social media use and sleep disturbances are longitudinally associated with depressive symptoms in adolescents

Journal of Adolescence ◽

10.1016/j.adolescence.2019.09.005 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 76 ◽

pp. 197-201 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Lennart Raudsepp

Keyword(s):

Social Media ◽

Depressive Symptoms ◽

Sleep Disturbances ◽

Media Use ◽

Social Media Use ◽

Problematic Social Media Use

Download Full-text

Association Between LGB Sexual Orientation and Depression Mediated by Negative Social Media Experiences: National Survey Study of US Young Adults

JMIR Mental Health ◽

10.2196/23520 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 7 (12) ◽

pp. e23520

Author(s):

César G Escobar-Viera ◽

Ariel Shensa ◽

Jaime Sidani ◽

Brian Primack ◽

Michael P Marshal

Keyword(s):

Social Media ◽

Young Adults ◽

Depressive Symptoms ◽

Depressive Symptomatology ◽

Media Use ◽

Survey Study ◽

Equation Modeling ◽

Potential Influence ◽

Social Media Use ◽

Unit Increase

Background Lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) persons are disproportionately affected by depression and have high social media use rates. Negative social media experiences may modify depressive symptoms among LGB persons. We sought to assess the potential influence of negative social media experiences on the association between LGB orientation and depression. Objective The aim of this study was to assess the potential influence of negative social media experiences on the association between LGB orientation and depression. Methods We performed a web-based survey of a national sample of US young adults aged 18-30 years. We assessed the respondents’ LGB orientation, negative social media experiences, and depression using the 9-item Patient Health Questionnaire. We used generalized structural equation modeling to assess both the direct and indirect effects (via negative social media experiences) of LGB orientation on depression while controlling for relevant demographic and personal characteristics. Results We found a conditional indirect effect (ab path) of LGB orientation on depressive symptoms via negative social media experience (a: observed coefficient 0.229; P<.001; bias-corrected bootstrapped 95% CI 0.162-0.319, and b: observed coefficient 2.158; P<.001; bias-corrected bootstrapped 95% CI 1.840-2.494). The results show that among LGB respondents, for those who reported negative social media experiences in the past year, a 1 unit increase in these experiences was associated with a 0.494 unit increase in depressive symptomatology. Conclusions Our results suggest that higher rates of depression among LGB young adults are partially explained by negative social media experiences; these results could help inform future patient/provider conversations about mental health risk and protective factors related to social media use. Reducing these experiences and increasing positive social media experiences among LGB persons may mitigate depressive symptomatology in this population.

Download Full-text

Passive and Active Social Media Use and Depressive Symptoms Among United States Adults

Cyberpsychology Behavior and Social Networking ◽

10.1089/cyber.2017.0668 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 21 (7) ◽

pp. 437-443 ◽

Cited By ~ 41

Author(s):

César G. Escobar-Viera ◽

Ariel Shensa ◽

Nicholas D. Bowman ◽

Jaime E. Sidani ◽

Jennifer Knight ◽

...

Keyword(s):

United States ◽

Social Media ◽

Depressive Symptoms ◽

Media Use ◽

Social Media Use

Download Full-text

Emotional responses to social media experiences among adolescents: Longitudinal associations with depressive symptoms

10.31234/osf.io/h867v ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Jacqueline Nesi ◽

William A. Rothenberg ◽

Alexandra Bettis ◽

Maya Massing-Schaffer ◽

Kara A. Fox ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Social Media ◽

Depressive Symptoms ◽

Media Use ◽

Emotional Responses ◽

Negative Effects ◽

Social Media Use ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

School Based ◽

Considerable Debate ◽

One Year

Objective: The degree to which adolescent social media use is associated with depressive symptoms has been the source of considerable debate. Prior studies have been limited by a reliance on cross-sectional data and measures of overall “screen time.” This study examines prospective associations between adolescents’ emotional responses to social media experiences and depressive symptoms, and examines gender differences in these processes. Method: A school-based sample of 687 adolescents (48.6% girls; Mage = 14.3; 38.1% White, 29.4% Hispanic, 23.0% Black) completed measures of positive and negative emotional responses to social media experiences and depressive symptoms at two time points, one year apart. Results: Higher levels of depressive symptoms were associated with more frequent negative emotional responses to social media experiences one year later, whereas greater positive emotional responses to social media were associated with later depressive symptoms. Girls reported overall greater emotional responses to social media experiences, but gender did not moderate associations between these emotional responses and depressive symptoms. Conclusion: Findings highlight the importance of examining adolescents’ positive and negative emotional experiences in the context of social media use, and the ways in which these experiences intersect with depressive symptoms, so as to identify youth who may be most vulnerable to negative effects of social media use.

Download Full-text