Young people's online communication and its association with mental well‐being: results from the 2019 student health and well‐being survey

Abstract

Background: Online communication has become an integral aspect of daily life for young people internationally. Very little research has examined whether the association between social media use and well-being depends on who young people engage with (i.e. real, or virtual friendships). Methods: Data were drawn from a subsample of students (N = 38,736) who took part in the School Health Research Network (SHRN) 2019 Student Health and Well-being (SHW) survey. A series of multivariable regression models were used to assess the association between who adolescents were communicating with online and well-being, controlling for confounders: passive social media use; friendship quality; and cyberbullying. We also tested whether these associations were modified based on gender. Results: Students are highly engaged on social networking sites, and these sites are used to communicate with existing friendship groups and develop virtual friendships. Frequent online communication with best friends (b = .340, p < .001) and bigger friendship groups (b = .397; p < .001) was associated with higher levels of well-being. However, the frequency of online contact with virtual friends made online was negatively and significantly associated with well-being (b = À.760; p < .001), with a larger negative association for girls than boys. Conclusions: Online communication with virtual friendship networks were associated with lower mental well-being, with stronger associations for girls than boys; however, frequent online communication with 'real' friends was associated with better well-being. Our results indicate the importance of considering the nature of adolescent online communication, rather than just its quantity, in developing interventions to improve adolescent well-being. Key Practitioner Message• What is known? A growing body of research has found an association between time spent on social media and lower levels of well-being; however, little is known about the context of time spent on social media and well-being. • What is new? Online communication with existing friendship groups was associated with increased wellbeing for both boys and girls. Frequent online communication with virtual friends made online was negatively and significantly associated with well-being, with a larger negative association for girls than boys. • What is significant for clinical practice? Interventions to improve young people's well-being should consider the positive association between online communication and adolescent well-being, while limiting harms.

Determining the role of innovative teaching practices, sustainable learning, and the adoption of e-learning tools in leveraging academic motivation for students' mental well-being.

“…A standardized questionnaire was used to collect data from the respondents i.e., students. The items of the questionnaire were adapted from the published literature; 6 items of academic motivation (48), 4 items of sustainable learning (49,50), 4 items of adoption of e-learning tools [51], 6 items of innovative teaching [52] and 7 items of student mental well-being [53]. To collect data using these questionnaire items, this research employed 7-point Likert scale ranging from 1 to 7 (1 = Not at all to 7 = Very much).…”

Exploring online experiences, cyberbullying and wellbeing for young people looked after in Wales: An analysis of the school health research network 2017/18 survey

“…Some research shows that cyberbullying perpetration is linked to lower wellbeing (Kircaburun et al, 2019) but other research has found no relationship between cyberbullying perpetration and depression and anxiety (Giordano et al, 2021). More nuanced understandings of the impacts of different kinds of online experiences on wellbeing have been shown by Anthony et al (2023) where regular contact with close friends and wider friendship groups was associated with higher levels of wellbeing, and regular contact with virtual friends was associated with lower levels of wellbeing.…”

Identifying protective and risk behavior patterns of online communication in young people

“…Existing research on how young people use social media have found that using social media to connect with preestablished offline relations can increase friendship quality (Valkenburg & Peter, 2011), help expand friendship groups (D'Rozario, 2020), and form and maintain social capital (Ifinedo, 2016). Recent work found that frequent online communication with close friends and larger friendship groups is associated with higher well‐being (Anthony et al, 2023). However, in contrast higher frequency o contact with virtual friends was significantly negatively correlated with well‐being, particularly for girls (Anthony et al, 2023).…”