The complex association between social media use intensity and adolescent wellbeing: A longitudinal investigation of five factors that may affect the association

Maartje Boer; Gonneke W.J.M. Stevens; Catrin Finkenauer; Regina van den Eijnden

doi:10.1016/j.chb.2021.107084

The complex association between social media use intensity and adolescent wellbeing: A longitudinal investigation of five factors that may affect the association

Maartje Boer, Gonneke W.J.M. Stevens, Catrin Finkenauer, Regina van den Eijnden

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Academic › peer-review

Abstract

The present study examined five possible explanations for the mixed findings on the association between adolescents' social media use (SMU) intensity and wellbeing. Particularly, it investigated whether the association between SMU intensity and life satisfaction depended on (1) the type of SMU activity the adolescent engaged in, (2) the (non)linearity of the association, (3) individual differences, (4) inclusion of SMU problems, and (5) the level of analysis. Data from four waves of longitudinal data among 1419 adolescents were used (Mage(T1) = 12.51 (0.60), 45.95% girl). Multilevel analyses showed that at the within-person level, on average, changes in different types of SMU activities were not associated with changes in life satisfaction. Within individuals, the associations ranged from negative to positive across adolescents. In general, this variation could not be explained by adolescents' engagement in upward social comparisons. At the between-person level, the higher adolescents' average intensity of certain SMU activities, the lower their average level of life satisfaction. However, these associations were confounded by adolescents’ SMU problems. No curvilinear associations were found. Overall, the findings underline that to enhance our understanding of the association between SMU and wellbeing in adolescence, it is important to acknowledge the heterogeneity of effects, distinguish between SMU intensity and SMU problems, and disentangle within-from between-person effects.

Original language	English
Article number	107084
Pages (from-to)	1-12
Number of pages	1
Journal	Computers in Human Behavior
Volume	128
Early online date	28 Oct 2021
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2021.107084
Publication status	Published - Mar 2022

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
Further, we examined whether the association between adolescents? SMU intensity and wellbeing would depend on the tendency to engage in upward social comparisons (RQ3b). We found no evidence for this moderating effect, with one exception: Among adolescents reporting high levels of upward social comparison, increases in SNS liking were associated with decreases in life satisfaction, which supports the social comparison perspective (De Vries et al., 2018). Among adolescents reporting low levels of upward social comparison, increases in SNS liking were associated with increases in life satisfaction, which corresponds to the emotional contagion perspective (De Vries et al., 2018). However, the individual differences in the associations between SNS liking and life satisfaction were not reduced when upward social comparisons were considered. Also, this was the only moderating effect found out of the six SMU activities that were examined. Therefore, future studies are necessary to replicate our findings.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 The Author(s)

Keywords

Adolescents
Life satisfaction
Longitudinal study
Social media use
Wellbeing

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Cite this

@article{8a554f7aae974955b9a120fd56041c74,

title = "The complex association between social media use intensity and adolescent wellbeing: A longitudinal investigation of five factors that may affect the association",

abstract = "The present study examined five possible explanations for the mixed findings on the association between adolescents' social media use (SMU) intensity and wellbeing. Particularly, it investigated whether the association between SMU intensity and life satisfaction depended on (1) the type of SMU activity the adolescent engaged in, (2) the (non)linearity of the association, (3) individual differences, (4) inclusion of SMU problems, and (5) the level of analysis. Data from four waves of longitudinal data among 1419 adolescents were used (Mage(T1) = 12.51 (0.60), 45.95% girl). Multilevel analyses showed that at the within-person level, on average, changes in different types of SMU activities were not associated with changes in life satisfaction. Within individuals, the associations ranged from negative to positive across adolescents. In general, this variation could not be explained by adolescents' engagement in upward social comparisons. At the between-person level, the higher adolescents' average intensity of certain SMU activities, the lower their average level of life satisfaction. However, these associations were confounded by adolescents{\textquoteright} SMU problems. No curvilinear associations were found. Overall, the findings underline that to enhance our understanding of the association between SMU and wellbeing in adolescence, it is important to acknowledge the heterogeneity of effects, distinguish between SMU intensity and SMU problems, and disentangle within-from between-person effects.",

keywords = "Adolescents, Life satisfaction, Longitudinal study, Social media use, Wellbeing",

author = "Maartje Boer and Stevens, {Gonneke W.J.M.} and Catrin Finkenauer and {van den Eijnden}, Regina",

note = "Funding Information: Further, we examined whether the association between adolescents? SMU intensity and wellbeing would depend on the tendency to engage in upward social comparisons (RQ3b). We found no evidence for this moderating effect, with one exception: Among adolescents reporting high levels of upward social comparison, increases in SNS liking were associated with decreases in life satisfaction, which supports the social comparison perspective (De Vries et al., 2018). Among adolescents reporting low levels of upward social comparison, increases in SNS liking were associated with increases in life satisfaction, which corresponds to the emotional contagion perspective (De Vries et al., 2018). However, the individual differences in the associations between SNS liking and life satisfaction were not reduced when upward social comparisons were considered. Also, this was the only moderating effect found out of the six SMU activities that were examined. Therefore, future studies are necessary to replicate our findings. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2021 The Author(s)",

year = "2022",

month = mar,

doi = "10.1016/j.chb.2021.107084",

language = "English",

volume = "128",

pages = "1--12",

journal = "Computers in Human Behavior",

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The complex association between social media use intensity and adolescent wellbeing: A longitudinal investigation of five factors that may affect the association. / Boer, Maartje ; Stevens, Gonneke W.J.M.; Finkenauer, Catrin et al.
In: Computers in Human Behavior, Vol. 128, 107084, 03.2022, p. 1-12.

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Academic › peer-review

TY - JOUR

T1 - The complex association between social media use intensity and adolescent wellbeing

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AU - Boer, Maartje

AU - Stevens, Gonneke W.J.M.

AU - Finkenauer, Catrin

AU - van den Eijnden, Regina

N1 - Funding Information: Further, we examined whether the association between adolescents? SMU intensity and wellbeing would depend on the tendency to engage in upward social comparisons (RQ3b). We found no evidence for this moderating effect, with one exception: Among adolescents reporting high levels of upward social comparison, increases in SNS liking were associated with decreases in life satisfaction, which supports the social comparison perspective (De Vries et al., 2018). Among adolescents reporting low levels of upward social comparison, increases in SNS liking were associated with increases in life satisfaction, which corresponds to the emotional contagion perspective (De Vries et al., 2018). However, the individual differences in the associations between SNS liking and life satisfaction were not reduced when upward social comparisons were considered. Also, this was the only moderating effect found out of the six SMU activities that were examined. Therefore, future studies are necessary to replicate our findings. Publisher Copyright: © 2021 The Author(s)

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AB - The present study examined five possible explanations for the mixed findings on the association between adolescents' social media use (SMU) intensity and wellbeing. Particularly, it investigated whether the association between SMU intensity and life satisfaction depended on (1) the type of SMU activity the adolescent engaged in, (2) the (non)linearity of the association, (3) individual differences, (4) inclusion of SMU problems, and (5) the level of analysis. Data from four waves of longitudinal data among 1419 adolescents were used (Mage(T1) = 12.51 (0.60), 45.95% girl). Multilevel analyses showed that at the within-person level, on average, changes in different types of SMU activities were not associated with changes in life satisfaction. Within individuals, the associations ranged from negative to positive across adolescents. In general, this variation could not be explained by adolescents' engagement in upward social comparisons. At the between-person level, the higher adolescents' average intensity of certain SMU activities, the lower their average level of life satisfaction. However, these associations were confounded by adolescents’ SMU problems. No curvilinear associations were found. Overall, the findings underline that to enhance our understanding of the association between SMU and wellbeing in adolescence, it is important to acknowledge the heterogeneity of effects, distinguish between SMU intensity and SMU problems, and disentangle within-from between-person effects.

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The complex association between social media use intensity and adolescent wellbeing: A longitudinal investigation of five factors that may affect the association

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

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