Emotional Responses to Social Media Experiences Among Adolescents: Longitudinal Associations with Depressive Symptoms

Self-disgust mediates the effect of problematic mobile social media use on non-suicidal self-injury in adolescents: A latent growth curve analysis

OBJECTIVE

Previous research linked problematic mobile social media use to non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI). However, little research explored the underlying mechanism. Drawing on the social displacement hypothesis, which suggests that excessive social media use may disrupt offline social interactions, leading to negative emotional experiences, the study employs a longitudinal design to explore the relationship between problematic mobile social media use and NSSI, with a specific emphasis on the mediating role of self-disgust.

METHODS

A total of 1,684 Chinese adolescents (52.3% females; Mage = 14.59 years, SDage = 1.27) completed self-report questionnaires regarding problematic mobile social media use, self-disgust, and NSSI. The assessment was conducted in three waves, 6 months apart.

RESULTS

Using latent growth curve and structural equation modeling, our study observed a consistent linear decline in NSSI levels over time. Higher initial NSSI levels correlated with a slower reduction. Problematic mobile social media use positively influenced the initial level of NSSI. Additionally, self-disgust played a mediating role in the relationship between problematic mobile social media use and NSSI.

CONCLUSIONS

The study underscores the importance of understanding the emotional experiences behind social media use, beyond mere usage duration. By revealing the mediating role of self-disgust, it provides new insights into the complex interplay between problematic mobile social media use and adolescent NSSI.

Perceived functions and importance of digital media use and adolescent depression and suicidal ideation

INTRODUCTION

Although social media (SM) use is nearly ubiquitous among adolescents, there is a lack of clarity concerning the relationship between SM use and mental health outcomes like depression and suicidal ideation (SI), which increase during adolescence. Much of the previous literature has focused on the frequency of SM use; however, the current study examined the relationship between the perceived importance of three types of interactions and functions of SM use and depressive symptoms and suicidal ideation.

METHODS

A sample of 4057 adolescents (M age = 14.6; 47.0% girls; 69.0% Non-Hispanic/Latine White) were recruited via an online survey manager between February and March 2019. Participants completed the Adolescent Digital Technology Interactions and Importance (ADTI) Scale, which assessed the perceived importance of bridging online and offline experiences (bridging), going outside one's identity or offline experience (identity), and facilitating social connections (social). Participants also completed measures of depressive symptoms and SI and a self-report measure of SM use. A series of path analyses were conducted to examine the relationship between bridging, identity, social, and depressive symptoms and SI.

RESULTS

After accounting for covariates (gender identity, racial identity, age, and SM use), bridging was negatively associated with depressive symptoms, whereas identity was positively associated with depressive symptoms. Bridging and social connection were negatively associated with SI, whereas identity was positively associated with SI. Gender moderated these relationships; however, racial identity did not.

CONCLUSION

The results highlight the importance of understanding adolescent SM use beyond screen time in relation to depression and SI.

Who's most at risk? A person-centered approach to understanding the long-term relationship between early social media use and later depression across adolescence

INTRODUCTION

Person-centered analyses examined the relationship between social media use and depression over an 8-year period. The purpose was to examine the varying ways early social media use was associated with the development of depressive symptoms with a hypothesis that social media would not have a uniform association with depressive symptoms across adolescents.

METHODS

Participants included 488 adolescents (52% female), living in the United States, who were surveyed once a year for 8 years (beginning in 2010 when the average age for participants was 13.33 years old).

RESULTS

Longitudinal mixture regression was used to identify classes of adolescents representing unique ways their early social media use was related to the development of depressive symptoms over an 8-year period. Five classes were found representing unique ways social media use was related to depression. Findings suggest social media use does not impact all adolescents in the same way. Social media use was related to increased depression for adolescents with greater parental hostility, peer bullying, anxiety, reactivity to stressors, and lower parental media monitoring. In other instances, social media use was related to less depression or was unrelated to depression.

CONCLUSIONS

By identifying which adolescents may be most at risk from social media use, health providers, schools, and caregivers can tailor interventions to fit the needs of each adolescent.

Positive and negative social media experiences and proximal risk for suicidal ideation in adolescents

BACKGROUND

Social media (SM) has received considerable attention as a potential risk factor for adolescent suicide. Few empirical studies, however, have examined adolescents' daily negative and positive experiences on SM and its proximal impacts on suicidal ideation (SI), particularly using intensive monitoring designs.

METHOD

Adolescents (N = 60; 14-17 years; 49% girls; 62% LGBTQ+) recruited using SM across the United States and participated in an 8-week intensive monitoring protocol. Ecological momentary assessment (three brief surveys per day) asked about negative and positive SM experiences and SI (passive and active). Multilevel modelling was used to evaluate the within-person relationships between daily SM experiences (e.g. individual fluctuations compared to a person's average) and SI, controlling for average levels of SM experiences, SM use screen time, and lifetime SI.

RESULTS

Significant within-person effects of negative and positive SM experiences were associated with days when adolescents had SI. Specifically, on days when teens endorsed more frequent negative SM experiences than usual, they were more likely to report SI. However, more positive SM experiences than usual were associated with a lower likelihood of having SI. There were no significant effects of SM use ('screen time') on SI or on the reverse associations of SI on next-day SM experiences.

CONCLUSIONS

Results indicate that SM experiences may be dynamic and modifiable risk and protective factors for SI in adolescents, whereas there is no effect of SM screen time on SI. Our results highlight that targeting negative SM experiences and augmenting the positive experiences on SM may be critical targets to improve teens' mental health and prevent suicide, rather than focusing on limiting SM screen time.

Social media & subjectivity: Adolescent lived experiences with social media in a Southern California middle school

The widespread use of social media (SM) platforms among adolescents has raised concerns over its role in increased adverse physical and mental health conditions. However, current research linking SM use with adolescent health relies on tenuous correlational associations, disproportionately focuses on harmful effects of its use, and seldom examines the perspectives of youth themselves (Odgers and Jensen, 2020; Schønning et al., 2020). This article examines adolescent lived experience in relation to SM platform engagement. Drawing from ethnographic fieldwork conducted in 2018-2019 and 2021-2022 among 75 middle-school adolescents living in an ethnically diverse and low-income Southern California community, we examine adolescent subjective experiences with SM platforms that illuminate adolescent concerns during this developmental stage. By attending to adolescent subjectivity, this article reveals the ways in which engagement with SM platforms is inextricable from cultural, social, political, and socio-emotional milieu.

Social Media Use as a Predictor of Positive and Negative Affect: An Ecological Momentary Assessment Study of Adolescents with and without Clinical Depression

Social media use is common in adolescents, with implications for psychosocial development and the emergence of depression. Yet, little is known about the time-linked connections between social media use and adolescents' affective experiences and how they may differ between depressed and non-depressed youth. We leveraged ecological momentary assessment in adolescents oversampled for current depression to examine (1) associations between social media use and concurrent and later positive and negative affect and (2) sex and presence of a depressive disorder as moderators of these associations. Adolescents aged 14-17 with (n = 48) and without (n = 97) clinical depression, as indicated via clinical interview, reported momentary social media use and positive and negative affect seven times per day for one week. Multilevel modeling indicated that social media use was associated with reduced positive affect both concurrently and at the next assessment. Further, among clinically depressed youth only, social media use was associated with reduced negative affect at the next assessment. Results suggest that social media use may reduce both positive and negative affect, highlighting the nuanced relation between adolescent social media use and emotional health and laying the groundwork for future research to address several open questions.

The role of sleep in prospective associations between parent reported youth screen media activity and behavioral health

BACKGROUND

Screen media activity (SMA) can negatively affect youth behavioral health. Sleep may mediate this association but has not been previously explored. We examined whether sleep mediated the association between SMA and youth behavioral health among a community sample.

METHOD

Parents completed questions about their child (N = 564) ages 3-17 at Wave 1, Wave 2 (4-8 months later), and Wave 3 (12 months later). Path analyses were conducted to examine links between Wave 1 SMA and Wave 3 behavioral health problems (i.e., internalizing, externalizing, attention, peer problems) through Wave 2 sleep disturbance and duration.

RESULTS

SMA was significantly associated with greater sleep disturbance, β = .11, 95% CI [.01, .21] and shorter sleep duration, β = -.16 [-.25, -.06], and greater sleep disturbance was associated with worse youth behavioral health across internalizing, β = .14 [.04, .24], externalizing, B = .23 [.12, .33], attention, β = .24 [.15, .34], and peer problems, β = .25 [.15, .35]. Longer sleep duration was associated with more externalizing, β = .13 [.04, .21], and attention problems, β = .12 [.02, .22], and fewer peer problems, β = -.09 [-.17, -.01], but not with internalizing problems. Lastly, there was a direct effect of SMA on peer problems, β = -.15 [-.23, -.06] such that higher SMA that does not impact sleep may have a positive impact on reducing peer problems.

CONCLUSIONS

Sleep (i.e., disturbances and shorter duration) may partially account for the small associations observed between SMA and worse behavioral health in youth. To continue expanding our understanding, future research should utilize more diverse representative samples, use objective measures of SMA and sleep, and examine other relevant aspects of SMA, including content, device type, and timing of use.

Which social media platforms matter and for whom? Examining moderators of links between adolescents' social media use and depressive symptoms

INTRODUCTION

Despite extensive research on social media and risks for mental health, not enough is known about individual differences in these risks.

METHODS

The present study, with data collected from 2018 to 2020, investigated the association between social media use (total and for specific platforms) and depressive symptoms in a sample of 237 American adolescents (Mage  = 15.10; SD = 0.49; 51.1% girls and 48.5% boys). We investigated several moderators: gender, self-esteem, personality, and negative reactions to social media. Covariates were gender, timing of the follow-up (pre vs. during the pandemic), and depressive symptoms a year earlier.

RESULTS

Results indicated that greater total time spent on social media was associated with higher levels of depressive symptoms. This effect held for Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube (but not Snapchat, Facebook, or Twitter). Several moderated effects were found. Twitter was associated with more depressive symptoms for girls but not boys. More frequent Instagram use was linked to more depressive symptoms for less or average-level extraverted teens but not for more extraverted teens, suggesting extraversion may be protective. More frequent TikTok use was associated with more depressive symptoms, particularly for teens who said they have more or average-level negative reactions to social media a year earlier.

CONCLUSIONS

This study suggests that certain adolescents may be at increased risk for serious mental health challenges, like elevated depressive symptoms, when using TikTok, Instagram, or Twitter more frequently, underscoring the importance of examining individual differences and particular social media platforms.

A systematic review on automated clinical depression diagnosis

Assessing mental health disorders and determining treatment can be difficult for a number of reasons, including access to healthcare providers. Assessments and treatments may not be continuous and can be limited by the unpredictable nature of psychiatric symptoms. Machine-learning models using data collected in a clinical setting can improve diagnosis and treatment. Studies have used speech, text, and facial expression analysis to identify depression. Still, more research is needed to address challenges such as the need for multimodality machine-learning models for clinical use. We conducted a review of studies from the past decade that utilized speech, text, and facial expression analysis to detect depression, as defined by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5), using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) guideline. We provide information on the number of participants, techniques used to assess clinical outcomes, speech-eliciting tasks, machine-learning algorithms, metrics, and other important discoveries for each study. A total of 544 studies were examined, 264 of which satisfied the inclusion criteria. A database has been created containing the query results and a summary of how different features are used to detect depression. While machine learning shows its potential to enhance mental health disorder evaluations, some obstacles must be overcome, especially the requirement for more transparent machine-learning models for clinical purposes. Considering the variety of datasets, feature extraction techniques, and metrics used in this field, guidelines have been provided to collect data and train machine-learning models to guarantee reproducibility and generalizability across different contexts.

Why Haven't You Texted Me Back? Adolescents' Digital Entrapment, Friendship Conflict, and Perceived General Health

OBJECTIVE

Many adolescents feel pressure to be constantly available and responsive to others via their smartphones and social media. This phenomenon has been understudied using quantitative methods, and no prior study has examined adolescents' specific stress about meeting digital availability expectations within a best friendship, or entrapment. The present study offers an important preliminary examination of this unique digital stressor in a developmental context by examining prospective associations between digital entrapment, psychosocial adjustment, and health in adolescence.

METHOD

Students in a rural, lower-income school district in the southeastern US (n = 714; 53.8% female; 45.9% White, 22.7% Black, 24.0% Hispanic/Latino) completed self-report measures of digital entrapment, perceived general health, friendship conflict, and depressive symptoms at two timepoints, one year apart.

RESULTS

Digital entrapment, which 76.3% of the sample reported experiencing, was associated prospectively with higher levels of friendship conflict and worse perceived general health one year later among boys, but not girls. Findings suggest that digital entrapment is an extremely common experience for adolescents that may disproportionally affect boys. Entrapment was not prospectively associated with depressive symptoms.

CONCLUSIONS

Results offer insight into how boys may have different social media experiences significant to their development and health, while much work exploring gender differences in social media use thus far has elucidated negative effects for girls. Boys may perceive and respond to novel social norms of digital environments differently such that digital entrapment has the potential to be detrimental to their friendships and health.

A Systematic Review of the Association of Internet Gaming Disorder and Excessive Social Media Use With Psychiatric Comorbidities in Children and Adolescents: Is It a Curse or a Blessing?

Internet gaming and social media usage (SMU), particularly among children and teenagers, have witnessed a remarkable surge over the past decade. However, it remains uncertain whether this widespread usage has a positive or negative impact. The primary objective of this systematic review was to investigate the diverse effects of excessive video game playing and extensive SMU, both favorable and detrimental, on the psychological and mental well-being of children and adolescents. To assess the influence of internet gaming disorder (IGD) and disordered SMU on the mental health of children aged 6-12 years and adolescents aged 13-18 years, we conducted a systematic review of 20 studies on the subject. These studies utilized a substantial sample size of 48,652 participants, encompassing online and in-person questionnaires administered to children, teenagers, and their parents in educational institutions, healthcare facilities, and online platforms. Our findings suggest that multiple factors contribute to the intricate relationship between SMU, video game playing, and mental health outcomes. The majority of research indicates that excessive gaming or SMU among children and teenagers leads to adverse consequences on their mental well-being. Furthermore, certain studies have even reported fatal consequences, while others have identified a worsening of preexisting mental health issues. A few studies have explored the potential positive impacts of SMU and gaming on individuals and society at large. In light of this, we have concluded that it is inappropriate to categorize internet gaming and SMU as solely beneficial or detrimental without considering the broader context and the interplay of various factors.

Mental health profiles of Finnish adolescents before and after the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic

BACKGROUND

The COVID-19 pandemic has had implications for adolescents' interpersonal relationships, communication patterns, education, recreational activities and well-being. An understanding of the impact of the pandemic on their mental health is crucial in measures to promote the post-pandemic recovery. Using a person-centered approach, the current study aimed to identify mental health profiles in two cross-sectional samples of Finnish adolescents before and after the peak of the pandemic, and to examine how socio-demographic and psychosocial factors, academic expectations, health literacy, and self-rated health are associated with the emerging profiles.

METHODS AND FINDINGS

Survey data from the Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) study conducted in Finland in 2018 (N = 3498, age M = 13.44) and 2022 (N = 3838, age M = 13.21) were analyzed. A four-profile model using cluster analysis was selected for both samples. In Sample 1, the identified profiles were (1) "Good mental health", (2) "Mixed psychosocial health", (3) "Somatically challenged", and (4) "Poor mental health". In Sample 2, the identified profiles were (1) "Good mental health", (2) "Mixed psychosomatic health", (3) "Poor mental health and low loneliness", and (4) "Poor mental health and high loneliness". The results of the mixed effect multinomial logistic regression analysis showed that in both samples, being a girl and reporting lower maternal monitoring; lower family, peer, and teacher support; higher intensity of online communication; a less positive home atmosphere and school climate; and poor self-rated health were most strongly linked to belonging to a poorer mental health profile. In addition, in Sample 2, low subjective health literacy was a key factor associated with poorer mental health profiles, and teacher support was more important than before COVID.

CONCLUSIONS

The current study stresses the importance of identifying those vulnerable to developing poor mental health. To maximize post-pandemic recovery, the role of schools, especially teacher support and health literacy, along with the factors that remained important over time should be taken into account in public health and health promotion interventions.

Momentary links between adolescents' social media use and social experiences and motivations: Individual differences by peer susceptibility

This longitudinal ecological momentary assessment study examined whether adolescents' use of social media to interact with peers relates to their experiences of social connectedness, social craving, and sensation seeking on an hourly level. Further, we investigated whether these associations differ for adolescents who were nominated by their peers as more or less susceptible to social influences, because highly susceptible youth may be more strongly impacted by social media due to heightened focus on peer behaviors and social feedback. The sample was 212 adolescents in the southeastern United States (Mage = 15 years; range 14 to 17; 56.2% female; 40% White, 28% Latinx, 26% African American, 15% mixed/other race). Controlling for both daily and between-subjects effects, we found a consistent pattern of hourly-level results that were robust to sensitivity analyses. When highly susceptible adolescents used social media to interact with peers in the last hour, they felt less socially connected to others and more strongly craved social connections and novel sensations. Youth who are particularly sensitive to social input from peers may feel less connected to others and crave more connections and exciting stimuli within 1 hr after using social media to interact with peers. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Trajectories of Perceived Technological Impairment and Psychological Distress in Adolescents

Fears that digital technologies harm adolescents' mental health abound; however, existing research is mixed. This study examined how perceived technological impairment (i.e., perceptions of digital technology interfering with daily life) related to psychological distress across five years in adolescence. A latent curve model with structured residuals was applied to disentangle between-from within-person associations, in which it was tested whether (a) adolescents who increased in their perceptions of technological impairment over time also increased in psychological distress (between-person) and (b) if an adolescent who reported greater perceptions of technological impairment relative to their underlying trajectory at one wave consequently reported greater distress at the subsequent wave (within-person). These associations were tested in a sample of 2104 adolescents (Mage = 12.36; 52% girls; 48% Non-White). Perceived technological impairment and psychological distress increased together over time. Girls and older adolescents (13-15 at baseline) reported greater initial levels of perceived impairment. Younger adolescents (9-12 at baseline) increased more steeply in perceived impairment over time. There was no evidence of longitudinal within-person associations. The findings suggest that although there is evidence of between-person associations in which increases in perceived technological impairment coincide with increases in psychological distress, the absence of within-person associations cautions against a cause-and-effect narrative between digital technology use and mental health.

Reactions to naturalistic smartphone deprivation among psychiatrically hospitalized adolescents

The standard of care among youth who are psychiatrically hospitalized typically involves smartphone confiscation for the duration of treatment. However, very little is known regarding how youth respond to this period of smartphone "deprivation," factors that may influence this response, and ensuing clinical effects. The present exploratory mixed-methods study sought to elucidate the experience of psychiatrically hospitalized adolescents as it relates to smartphone deprivation, and to evaluate the impact of this widespread treatment approach. Psychiatrically hospitalized adolescents (N = 181; Mean age = 15.29 years) completed qualitative and quantitative measures assessing the experience of smartphone deprivation during hospitalization. Associations among reactions to smartphone deprivation and smartphone and social media use patterns were explored. Analyses additionally evaluated whether reactions to smartphone deprivation were associated with clinical symptom severity (e.g., suicidal ideation, internalizing and externalizing symptoms) and readiness for psychotherapy. Negative reactions to smartphone deprivation were significantly positively correlated with daily smartphone hours, addictive patterns of use, and both negative and positive emotional responses to social media use. Reactions to smartphone deprivation were not associated with clinical symptom severity. However, negative reactions to smartphone deprivation were associated with lower readiness for therapy, while positive reactions were associated with greater readiness. This preliminary work illustrates the complexities of smartphone use in adolescents and the potential positive and negative effects of smartphone deprivation during psychiatric hospitalization. Future prospective research with adolescents should clarify optimal smartphone access during inpatient hospitalization.

Exploring the Associations between Social Media Addiction and Depression: Attentional Bias as a Mediator and Socio-Emotional Competence as a Moderator

Social media is used daily by a significant number of young people and can have an important influence on the well-being of its users. The aim of this study was to determine the motives for social media use among Chinese youth and whether social media addiction associates with depression. Another objective was to analyze possible mediating and moderating effects in explaining the association between social media addiction and depression. Participants were 1652 secondary school students (51.5% boys and 48.5% girls) aged 12-18 years in China. The results showed that attention bias mediated the association between social media addiction and depression when adolescents' socio-emotional competencies were low, but not as strong when their socio-emotional competencies were high. The findings not only provided theoretical support for preventing the negative effects of mobile social media addiction, but could also directly contribute to improving adolescents' quality of life.

An Evaluation of a Microlearning Intervention to Limit COVID-19 Online Misinformation

As part of a design-based research project, we designed, developed, and evaluated a web-based microlearning intervention in the form of a comic into the problem of COVID-19 online misinformation. In this paper, we report on our formative evaluation efforts. Specifically, we assessed the degree to which the comic was effective and engaging via responses to a questionnaire (n = 295) in a posttest-only non-experimental design. The intervention focused on two learning objectives, aiming to enable users to recognize (a) that online misinformation is often driven by strong emotions like fear and anger, and (b) that one strategy for disrupting the spread of misinformation can be the act of stopping before reacting to misinformation. Results indicate that the comic was both effective and engaging in achieving these learning objectives.

Social media use, sleep, and psychopathology in psychiatrically hospitalized adolescents

Sleep disruption among adolescents represents a major public health concern, and social media use may play an important role in affecting sleep and subsequent mental health. While prior studies of youth sleep and mental health have often focused on social media use frequency and duration, adolescents' emotional experiences related to social media have been underexplored, particularly among clinically acute populations. This study offers a preliminary investigation of associations among negative emotional experiences using social media, sleep disturbance, and clinical symptom severity in a sample of psychiatrically hospitalized youth. A sample of 243 adolescents (Mage = 15.34) completed self-report measures at a single time point. Measures assessed social media use, including frequency and duration, subjective experiences of use, and emotional responses to use, as well as sleep disturbance and clinical symptom severity, including suicidal ideation, internalizing symptoms, and attention problems. Results revealed that more frequent negative emotional responses to social media use were linked to greater sleep disturbance and higher clinical symptom severity. Furthermore, sleep disturbance mediated the relation between negative emotional responses to social media and clinical symptom severity. While gender differences were revealed in characteristics of social media use, sleep disturbance, and clinical outcomes, the associations among these constructs did not vary across gender groups. Overall, these findings highlight sleep disturbance as a potential mechanism through which negative emotional experiences on social media may impact clinical symptoms in psychiatrically vulnerable youth.

Composition and Factorial Invariance for the Assessment of Body Image Dissatisfaction Questionnaire in Mexican Adolescents

Body image is a mental representation that a person has, which could become a body dissatisfaction due to the pressure exerted by the culture, affecting several life stages specially in adolescents. The aim of this study was to analyze the psychometric properties and factorial invariance of the questionnaire to assess body image dissatisfaction. The sample consisted of 552 Mexican teenagers, 259 female, and 293 male, with a mean age of 12.91 ± 0.96 years. Confirmatory Factor Analyses show that a five-factor structure is viable and adequate. The five-factor structure (perceptual, emotional distress, behavioral, proposal to change, and fear of gaining weight) show adequate fit indices and validity, even though the obtained model does not completely correspond to that proposed by the authors of the scale, it continues to endorse the multifactorial component of body dissatisfaction. On the other hand, the factorial structure, the factor loadings, and the intercepts are considered invariant in both populations; however, there are differences between the populations for the means of the perceptual, emotional distress, and fear of gaining weight factors. This study serves as a premise for future research on the study of instruments for measuring body image in populations with different personal and cultural factors.