Bored and online: Reasons for using social media, problematic social networking site use, and behavioral outcomes across the transition from adolescence to emerging adulthood

Abstract

Introduction:The current study examined motivations for social networking site use across three years during the transition from late adolescence to emerging adulthood. While research has been conducted examining reasons for social networking site usage and behavior, the clear majority have focused on samples of undergraduate college students and are cross-sectional.Methods: Changes in motivations for using social networking sites were examined in relation to problematic social networking site use and several behavioral and mental health outcomes in a sample of adolescents over three years.Results: Using social networking sites to connect with others was relatively stable over a threeyear period. However, using social networking sites to seek information increased from late adolescence to emerging adulthood and was not related to any negative outcomes across three years. Using social networking sites to alleviate boredom also increased over time. Initial levels of social media use to alleviate boredom were associated with problematic social networking site use, financial stress, anxiety, and empathy at year three. Increases in using social networking sites to socially connect over time was related to problematic social networking site use, anxiety, delinquency, and empathy at year three. Using social networking sites for any reason was not related to depressive symptoms over three years. Conclusions:The current study supports the growing body of literature suggesting that using social networking sites to alleviate boredom and socially connect, may place individuals at increased risk for developing pathological tendencies and patterns of behavior towards social networking sites.For U.S. adolescents, media use is a full-time job. 95% of U.S. teens have access to a smartphone and 45% report being online almost constantly (Anderson & Jiang, 2018). One major source of adolescents' online activity is social networking sites (SNS; HHS, 2016). Social networking sites have been defined as "a networked communication platform in which participants (1) have uniquely identifiable profiles that consist of user-supplied content, content provided by other users, and/or system-provided data; (2) can publicly articulate connections that can be viewed and traversed by others; and (3) can consume, produce, and/or interact with streams of user-generated content provided by their connections on the site. " (p. 158, Ellison & Boyd, 2013) and include sites such as Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. In 2019 85% of U.S. teens report using YouTube, 72% report using Instagram and 69% report using Snapchat (Gramlich, 2019). Social networking site usage accounts for a significant portion of U.S. teens online activities (Anderson & Jiang, 2018). For most teens, using social networking sites is a normative part of growing up in a digital world. Research

Associations of Different Media Activities With Behavioral Strengths and Difficulties and School Performance in Adolescents: a Cross-Sectional Analysis

“…Regarding the media activity searching for information, our analyses suggest that this activity can weaken the associations between other media activities and behavioral di culties, especially externalizing behavioral problems and less prosocial behavior. This is in line with ndings of another recent study showing that social media use for the purpose of searching for information is not associated with any negative outcomes [37]. One possible explanation is that using media for academic purposes such as doing homework is bene cial for their behavioral adjustment.…”

“…Furthermore, studies exploring different -academic as well as entertaining -media activities in the same study are rare [36,37]. A very recent study showed that the use of social media for the purpose of searching for information was not associated with negative mental health outcomes, whereas social media use for other purposes was [37]. This nding suggests that searching for information is a media activity whose effects on behavioral adjustment differ from effects of other media activities.…”

“…Whereas the media activities gaming, social networking, and watching TV/videos and their associations with health and academic performance have been investigated in several studies, other media activities such as searching for information/doing homework or traditional ways of communication (e.g., telephone calling, mailing) are understudied. Furthermore, studies exploring different -academic as well as entertaining -media activities in the same study are rare [36,37]. A very recent study showed that the use of social media for the purpose of searching for information was not associated with negative mental health outcomes, whereas social media use for other purposes was [37].…”

Langeweile ist nicht langweilig

“…Nachgewiesen ist mittlerweile, dass Langeweile zu vermehrtem, suchtartigen Smartphone-Gebrauch [81,50], zu Internetsucht [16,65,91,101], Spielsucht und Computerspielsucht [33,45] führen kann. Zudem erhöht sie das Risiko für den pathologischen Gebrauch von sozialen Online-Netzwerken [13,86] und von Pornografie [11,25]. Einige Autoren heben hervor, dass gerade die Nutzung aus Langeweile mit langfristig nachteiligen Folgen verbunden ist.…”

“…Einige Autoren heben hervor, dass gerade die Nutzung aus Langeweile mit langfristig nachteiligen Folgen verbunden ist. So bemerken beispielsweise Stockdale und Coyne [86] in ihrer Diskussion: "Die aktuelle Studie unterstützt die wachsende Anzahl an Studien, die darauf hinweisen, dass die Nutzung von sozialen Online-Netzwerken zur Bekämpfung von Langeweile … mit einem erhöhten Risiko verbunden sein kann, pathologische Tendenzen und Verhaltensmuster gegenüber sozialen Online-Netzwerken zu entwickeln. 4…”