The Effects of Reducing Social Media Use on Body Esteem Among Transitional-Aged Youth

Introduction. Social media use (SMU) and body image concerns are highly prevalent in youth. Although several studies have shown that high SMU is crosssectionally associated with lower body esteem, experimental evidence is lacking. This pilot study experimentally evaluated the effects of reducing SMU on body esteem among transitional aged youth (TAY) with emotional distress. Methods. Thirty-eight undergraduate students presenting with elevated symptoms of anxiety/depression were randomly assigned to the intervention (n = 16), where SMU was restricted to 60 minutes/day, or to the control group (n = 22), where SMU was not restricted. SMU was monitored via screen-time trackers in participants’ smartphone submitted daily during baseline (1-week) and intervention (3-week) periods. Baseline and post-intervention measurements were taken to assess appearance and weight esteem as well as symptoms of anxiety and depression as secondary outcomes. Results. A significant group × time interaction emerged indicating that the intervention participants showed a significantly greater increase in appearance esteem over the 4 weeks compared to controls. There was no significant between-group difference on change in weight esteem. A significant group × time interaction emerge on anxiety indicating that intervention participants showed a significantly greater improvement in anxiety over the study period compared to controls. There was no significant between-group difference on change in depressive symptoms. Discussion. Reducing SMU may be a feasible and effective method of improving appearance esteem and reducing anxiety in a high-risk population of TAY with emotional distress; however, more high-quality randomized controlled trials are needed to confirm findings.

Social media for emergency messaging with youth and families during the coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic: Getting it right

Disaster communications are frequently included as an area of improvement in the majority of incident after action reports. One segment of the population that is overlooked or intentionally excluded from messaging constructs is adolescents and transitional aged youth. Social media, the preferred mechanism of this population, has the capacity to both educate as well as misinform. Thoughtful and intentional utilization of social media channels for adolescent audiences can convey facts and motivation for appropriate community action when mindfully incorporated into a crisis communication plan by emergency managers. Increasing methods of accurately conveying life-safety issues during the COVID-19 pandemic and its increasing variants must be done correctly and timely.

“It’s Just a Band-Aid on Something No One Really Wants to See or Acknowledge”: A Photovoice Study with Transitional Aged Youth Experiencing Homelessness to Examine the Roots of San Diego’s 2016–2018 Hepatitis A Outbreak

San Diego, California is consistently ranked among regions with the highest rates of homelessness in the United States. From 2016 to 2018, San Diego experienced an unprecedented outbreak of hepatitis A virus (HAV), largely attributed in media and public health discourse to the region’s growing population of people experiencing homelessness. Little attention, however, was devoted to examining the experiences and needs of this population, particularly transitional aged youth (TAY, aged 18–24) experiencing homelessness who may have been uniquely affected by the outbreak. This community-based participatory research study leveraged diverse qualitative methods, principally photovoice, to explore how the social and built environment shapes health among TAY experiencing homelessness in San Diego, how these environments may have contributed to the HAV outbreak, and TAY’s perceptions of HAV-related public health interventions. Emergent findings include stigmatization of TAY and other people experiencing homelessness, interventions that failed to address root causes of the outbreak, and interactions with housing-related and other social support resources that limit rather than support economic and social mobility. Findings have implications for understanding how media and public discourse, public health interventions, and availability and delivery of resources can contribute to and perpetuate stigma and health inequities faced by TAY experiencing homelessness.