Plurality in the Measurement of Social Media Use and Mental Health: An Exploratory Study Among Adolescents and Young Adults

Abstract

On a daily basis, individuals between 12 and 25 years of age engage with their mobile devices for many hours. Social Media Use (SMU) has important implications for the social life of younger individuals in particular. However, measuring SMU and its effects often poses challenges to researchers. In this exploratory study, we focus on some of these challenges, by addressing how plurality in the measurement and age-specific characteristics of SMU can influence its relationship with measures of subjective mental health (MH). We conducted a survey among a nationally representative sample of Dutch adolescents and young adults ( N = 3,669). Using these data, we show that measures of SMU show little similarity with each other, and that age-group differences underlie SMU. Similar to the small associations previously shown in social media-effects research, we also find some evidence that greater SMU associates to drops and to increases in MH. Albeit nuanced, associations between SMU and MH were found to be characterized by both linear and quadratic functions. These findings bear implications for the level of association between different measures of SMU and its theorized relationship with other dependent variables of interest in media-effects research.

Students’ Mental Health, Well-Being, and Loneliness during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Cross-National Study

“…Among the students, more time spent using social media was associated with poorer mental health and well-being and more emotional loneliness. While these findings are in line with those of several studies conducted during and before the COVID-19 pandemic [ 24 , 47 , 48 , 49 , 50 , 51 ], we note that the strength of the associations detected within the student sample appears to be more substantive than the comparable associations found in the general populations studied e.g., [ 20 , 52 ]. Social media is by far more widely adopted among adolescents and young adults, compared to those in the older age groups [ 53 ].…”

The Roles of Social Media Use and Friendship Quality in Adolescents’ Internalizing Problems and Well-being

“…The dual-continuum model holds that mental health problems (e.g., internalizing problems, including depressive and anxiety symptoms) and well-being (i.e., life satisfaction, positive emotions, and good functioning in one’s individual endeavors and social life) (Diener, 2009 ; Gallagher et al, 2009 ) are related, yet distinct, continua, rather than opposite ends of a single continuum (Keyes, 2005 ). Concerns have been raised about the potential role of social media use in both adolescents’ internalizing problems and well-being, and recent research has indicated the relevance of distinguishing the two (Boer et al, 2020 ; Fardouly et al, 2018 ; Petropoulos Petalas et al, 2021 ).…”

Patterns of Social Media Use across Age Groups during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Study across Four Countries

“…The use of social media comprises several distinct, yet potentially interconnected, aspects. While researchers have frequently focused on examining how much time people spend on social media, a plethora of perspectives and measures related to social media are used (Petropoulos Petalas et al 2021). However, relatively scarce attention has been given to investigating how people engage with social media, for what reasons they use social media, and with what perceived effects.…”