In the mix: Social integration and social media adoption

The Double-Edged Sword of Online Learning for Ethnoracial Differences in Adolescent Mental Health During Late Period of the COVID-19 Pandemic in the United States: National Survey

BACKGROUND

Despite several theories suggesting online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic would aggravate ethnoracial disparities in mental health among adolescents, extant findings suggest no ethnoracial differences in mental health or that those from minoritized ethnoracial groups reported better mental health than their White counterparts.

OBJECTIVE

This study aimed to identify why findings from prior studies appear to not support that ethnoracial disparities in mental health were aggravated by testing 2 pathways. In pathway 1 pathway, online learning was associated with reporting fewer confidants, which in turn was associated with poorer mental health. In pathway 2, online learning was associated with reporting better sleep, which in turn was associated with better mental health.

METHODS

We analyzed survey data from a US sample (N=540) of 13- to 17-year-olds to estimate how school modality was associated with mental health via the 2 pathways. The sample was recruited from the AmeriSpeak Teen Panel during spring of 2021, with an oversample of Black and Latino respondents. Ethnoracial categories were Black, Latino, White, and other. Mental health was measured with the 4-item Patient Health Questionnaire, which assesses self-reported frequency of experiencing symptoms consistent with anxiety and depression. School modality was recorded as either fully online or with some in-person component (fully in-person or hybrid). We recorded self-reports of the number of confidants and quality of sleep. Covariates included additional demographics and access to high-speed internet. We estimated bivariate associations between ethnoracial group membership and both school modality and mental health. To test the pathways, we estimated a path model.

RESULTS

Black and Latino respondents were more likely to report being in fully online learning than their White counterparts (P<.001). Respondents in fully online learning reported fewer confidants than those with any in-person learning component (β=-.403; P=.001), and reporting fewer confidants was associated with an increased likelihood of reporting symptoms consistent with anxiety (β=-.121; P=.01) and depression (β=-.197; P<.001). Fully online learning respondents also reported fewer concerns of insufficient sleep than their in-person learning counterparts (β=-.162; P=.006), and reporting fewer concerns was associated with a decreased likelihood of reporting symptoms consistent with anxiety (β=.601; P<.001) and depression (β=.588; P<.001). Because of these countervailing pathways, the total effect of membership in a minoritized ethnoracial group on mental health was nonsignificant.

CONCLUSIONS

The findings compel more nuanced discussions about the consequences of online learning and theorizing about the pandemic's impact on minoritized ethnoracial groups. While online learning may be a detriment to social connections, it appears to benefit sleep. Interventions should foster social connections in online learning and improve sleep, such as implementing policies to enable later start times for classes. Future research should incorporate administrative data about school modality, rather than relying on self-reports.

Adolescent Social Media Use through a Self-Determination Theory Lens: A Systematic Scoping Review

BACKGROUND

Social media is an integral part of adolescents' lives and has a strong influence on development and wellbeing. Research examining adolescent social media use and wellbeing is confusing as findings are inconsistent, inconclusive and contradictory. To address this issue, digital wellbeing scholars recommend that researchers adopt a theoretical approach with the aim of increasing meaningfulness and applicability of findings. Hence, this review applies self-determination theory to investigate how adolescent social media use supports and thwarts the basic psychological needs of relatedness, autonomy and competence. Satisfaction of all three psychological needs is essential for optimal development and wellbeing.

METHODS

A scoping review was conducted using a systematic search of five databases relating to adolescent social media use. The preferred items for systematic review and meta-analysis protocols (extension for scoping reviews) was applied resulting in 86 included studies.

RESULTS

Adolescent social media use both supports and thwarts relatedness, autonomy and competence. The findings highlighted how different aspects of adolescent social media use (including intra-personal, inter-personal, situational and environmental factors) contribute to the satisfaction and frustration of basic psychological needs.

CONCLUSIONS

This review illustrates how social media can be both beneficial and detrimental to satisfying the basic psychological needs of relatedness, autonomy and competence. This is important when considering that if psychological needs are satisfied or frustrated in adolescence, the repercussions can have a cascading effect throughout adulthood. This review identifies gaps in the literature and provides suggestions for future research.

Impact of social media usage on academic performance of university students: Mediating role of mental health under a cross-sectional study in Bangladesh

Background and Aim

Social media is undeniably more accessible and more appreciated today. It is undoubtedly one of the most crucial instruments for student communication. Mental health status can also meaningfully influence the students at the higher levels of the educational institutions. This study aims to evaluate the social media usage of university students and its impact on academic performance and mental health.

Methods

To examine under confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) several scale measurements were confirmed by justifying the validity and reliability of several necessary indices and structural equation model. The mediation analysis was also estimated to evaluate the students' Social media addiction (employed Bergen Social Media Addiction Scale) under maximum likelihood estimation with 2000 bootstrapping and 95% bias-corrected bootstrap confidence intervals.

Results

This study shows that the usage of social media significantly improves academic performance on psychological well-being, with a Comparative Fit Index of 0.921 and an RMSEA of 0.06 indicating a good fit of the CFA model. Finally, we exhibit a strong statistically significant positive impact of social media usage on academic success, and as supporting the hypothesis, the study observed a positive mediating role of mental health between social media addiction and academic performance.

Conclusion

The present research investigations produced unique results, that is, online social media enhances mental health and mediates the link between social media addiction and academic performance in Bangladeshi students. This finding also add to the empirical database on social media usage and have significant theoretical and practical ramifications.

Impact of Internal Migration on Sexual Attitudes in China: The Moderating Role of Internet Use

Using nationally representative data from China, this paper investigated the impact of internal migration on sexual attitudes and whether this relationship is moderated by Internet use. We provide evidence that internal migration had a significantly positive impact on attitudes toward the acceptance of premarital sex, extramarital sex, and homosexuality. We also found that the positive nexus between internal migration and sexual attitudes was moderated by Internet use. The results further indicated that internal migration influenced sexual attitudes through extrication from traditional gender role values, the deterioration of subjective well-being, and the improvement of economic status.

Social integration: A concept analysis

BACKGROUND

In recent decades, social isolation has been increasingly linked to serious health conditions. However, social integration (SI) is a complex concept that has not been systematically explored or defined in nursing. It is essential for nurses and healthcare providers to have a clearer concept of SI to better provide holistic care to support optimal health.

PURPOSE

This concept analysis aimed to clarify the concept of SI in health research and to identify attributes, antecedents, and consequences of the concept of SI to enhance understanding of the concept and its implications for human health.

METHODS

Walker and Avant's framework was used as the methodology for the concept analysis of SI. A literature search using PubMed, CINAHL, and Embase databases on SI was conducted with keywords: "integration," "social integration," "social relationships," "social participation," "community integration," "socialization." Studies included in the search were published from 2001 to 2021.

RESULTS

SI is affected by multidimensional individual, societal, and environmental factors. Defining attributes are productive activities, social relationships, community engagement, and leisure activities. SI is effective in promoting multiple aspects of health as well as healthy aging and overall well-being.

CONCLUSION

The analysis contributes to a comprehensive and fundamental understanding of SI and contributes to helping nurses better understand patients' circumstances that promote or inhibit SI. This knowledge will support the development of interventions that support optimal health and well-being, in assisting patients to remain integrated or reintegrate into society during and following an illness or injury.

Analyzing the impact of technology incentives on community digital inclusion using structural equation modeling

Purpose

This study aims to assess whether technological incentives inspire communities in the process of digital inclusion. The factors analyzed by the authors assess five dimensions: technology incentives, technology utilization, searching skills, social integration, and capabilities.

Design/methodology/approach

Data were collected from 329 respondents in 14 public libraries and analyzed using structural equation modeling to validate the proposed research model and its relationships with the factors the authors analyzed.

Findings

The results showed that technological incentives significantly impact on technology utilization, searching skills, social integration, and capabilities to support community digital inclusion in Pakistan.

Practical implications

Technological incentives to the community will lead to the improvement of network technology for things like online taxation, banking transactions, social integration, participation in government, and modern health and education benefits. In addition, technological incentives will also enhance information literacy and digital access, helping people improve cognitive skills and critical thinking and also helping to develop skills.

Originality/value

This research is based on raw data first collected from various people with different opinions from the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa public libraries. This study was conducted to gain a deeper understanding of the overall situation related to the use of technology in Pakistan and the complications involved.

Neighborhood social integration as a predictor of neighborhood perceptions

A growing body of literature has established a relationship between neighborhood perceptions and both physical and mental health outcomes, yet there remains a need to further explicate possible psychosocial factors that are predictive of neighborhood perceptions. This study hypothesized that an increase in social integration would result in more positive neighborhood perceptions. Propensity score matching on social integration was employed to strengthen the ability to draw a causal inference about the effect on neighborhood perceptions. When controlling for a range of sociodemographic covariates-including area deprivation index as a measure of objective neighborhood conditions-high social integration accounted for more than a 7% increase in neighborhood perceptions. The findings indicate the role of social integration as a predictor of neighborhood perceptions, revealing the potential importance of interventions and mechanisms aimed at improving neighborhood perceptions via social integration for the purposes of improving physical health and mental wellbeing.

A Hybrid MCDM Model to Select Optimal Hosts of Variety Shows in the Social Media Era

The selection of the optimal variety show hosts is a key to television stations. However, no study has a deal with this issue. In this paper, a hybrid multiple criteria decision-making (MCDM) model based on the fuzzy Delphi method, decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory (DEMATEL), analytic network process (ANP), and technique for order preference by similarity to ideal solution (TOPSIS) to choose optimal hosts of variety shows for television stations in the social media era was developed. The fuzzy Delphi method was taken as a screening tool for the selection criteria of variety show hosts. Then, DEMATEL was applied to verify the interdependencies between the perspectives. According to the interdependencies, ANP was employed to obtain weights. Finally, TOPSIS ranked the alternatives. The selection criteria were gathered from previous researches and discussions with senior executives of television stations. By the fuzzy Delphi method, 12 criteria were identified. Based on the past study and consultations with four senior executives, we classified 12 essential criteria into four perspectives to develop the hierarchy for the variety show host selection. Under the hierarchy base on four perspectives and 12 criteria, managers of television stations could select the optimal variety show hosts more effectively. The usability and efficiency of the proposed model were also considered by a case study. We offered a distinct contribution to the prior studies by providing a model in the variety show host selection field. In the context of social media competition, this study also added the selection criteria from Internet celebrities.

Conflict as a Social Status Mobility Mechanism in Schools: A Network Approach

Participating in conflict may facilitate the acquisition of social status in a group. We build on theories about the sources of conflict and status to formulate propositions about how conflict affects status mobility in schools. Using two-wave panel data from over 20,000 students in 56 middle schools, we first examine the relationship between change in conflict with schoolmates and change in a network-derived metric of status, betweenness centrality, which is an indicator of being well known. More overall conflict with students is associated with increases in status up to a threshold. Additionally, students who perceive more conflict with others who do not perceive conflict in return also gain status. Finally, more conflict with friends does not increase status. Based on this evidence, we propose a mechanism by which conflict increases status through signaling integration in the school’s social scene rather than through establishing dominance over others, as previous literature suggests.