Positive and Negative Online Experiences and Loneliness in Peruvian Adolescents During The COVID-19 Lockdown

Abstract

COVID-19 lockdowns around the world have markedly disrupted adolescents' in-person social networks, putting them at risk for social isolation, loneliness and their detrimental consequences. During lockdown, social media can help adolescents to maintain and develop relationships across distance, particularly with peers. In this longitudinal, observational study following 735 Peruvian adolescents (11-17 years old) from low-to-middle income urban settings, we investigated whether online experiences relate to loneliness during initial stages of lockdown in Perú. We found that loneliness generally did not change between week six and week eleven of lockdown, was higher for females and similar for all grades. Both positive and negative online experiences were more frequent for older students, and females experienced more negative online experiences than males. Loneliness was negatively associated with positive online experiences, with the reverse pattern for negative online experiences, when controlling for family social support and screen time. Our results highlight the association between online experiences and well-being, suggesting that positive online experiences can be an important vehicle for peer relationships in the face of lockdown.

The Impact of the COVID‐19 Pandemic on Adolescent Emotional, Social, and Academic Adjustment

“…Indeed, several studies in the special issue documented that a subgroup of adolescents felt more lonely during the pandemic (e.g., Romm et al, 2021) and that loneliness explained the decline in early adolescents' emotional adjustment during the pandemic (Sabato, Abraham, & Kogut, 2021). During the early period of the lockdown, levels of loneliness remained constant (Magis-Weinberg et al, 2021). Particularly highly extraverted adolescents reported increases in loneliness, which subsequently were related to increased levels of depressive symptoms (Alt, Reim, & Walper, 2021), showing that whereas extraversion might help to establish and maintain social connection in normal circumstances, under conditions of restricted access to others, extraversion might put youth at risk for developing problems and lower well-being.…”

“…Journal of Research on Adolescence published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of Society for Research on Adolescence This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attrib ution-NonCommercial License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited and is not used for commercial purposes. Dahl, 2021). These studies allow us to examine how the changing circumstances during the pandemic relate to adolescent adjustment and wellbeing and examine the effects of changes in pandemic-related experiences across time.…”

Context, Development, and Digital Media: Implications for Very Young Adolescents in LMICs

“…Developing technical competence in these digital developmental contexts is important for early adolescent self-esteem, pride, and confidence (Fitton et al, 2013). Online platforms serve as a space to escape parental monitoring, to develop problem solving skills, and to master challenging tasks (Uhls et al, 2017), particularly during the global pandemic (Survey Monkey and Common Sense Media, 2020;Magis-Weinberg et al, 2021). Developing mastery, as • Digital divides in use, access and appropriation exacerbate existing disparities (e.g., gender, socioeconomics, educational attainment) l,m,n • Digital gender divide o • General and digital literacy might be barriers to access p , compounded by undersupply of culturally, linguistically, and regionally tailored content • Transition into secondary school might be a point of vulnerability q • Mobile phone use and subsidized data use by Big tech is especially suited for social media consumption (vs. using the computer which facilitates other activities) r • Cultural norms and values (i.e., individualism vs. collectivism, self enhancement vs. self-transcendence) influence and in turn are influenced by digital media use • Exploration can expand beyond the community s • Digital media enable remote acculturation, which might open avenues for exploration, challenge to local norms and intergenerational discrepancies that might also lead to parent-adolescent conflict t • Gender norms might limit girls' exploration and limit mixed-gender socialization u .…”

“…Digital technologies can also offer new opportunities for mental health interventions with young people, particularly the most marginalized, in LMICs (Giovanelli et al, 2020;Rost et al, 2020). Social media has played a preeminent role as a bridge for physical distancing in the pandemic lockdowns around the world, constituting a protective but also a risk factor for adolescent mental health and well-being (Ellis et al, 2020;Magis-Weinberg et al, 2021;Magson et al, 2021).…”

“…The heterogeneous effects of social media on well-being relate to the different psychological processes at play as users navigate this emerging social ecosystem (Kross et al, 2020). For example, positive online experiences reduce loneliness for early adolescents in Peru, with opposite effects for negative interactions (Magis-Weinberg et al, 2021). Early adolescent use of social media for comparison with others is associated with depression above and beyond a simple measure of screen time (Magis-Weinberg et al, in prep).…”