How Facebook makes teens (un)happy: Understanding the relationships between Facebook use and adolescents’ well-being

The exponential growth of social networking sites, especially the large amount of time spent on Facebook, raised concern about the potential harmful impact of social networking site use on adolescents’ well-being. However, over the years, controversy regarding the potential outcomes of adolescents’ social networking site use has emerged. This resulted in an ongoing scholarly debate on whether social networking sites, like Facebook, are beneficial or harmful for adolescents’ well-being. This controversy may be partly due to the fact that it is still unclear how the use of Facebook may influence adolescents’ well-being and who is particularly susceptible to being influenced by the use of Facebook. This dissertation therefore aimed to contribute to this scholarly debate and hereby aimed to fill a critical gap of knowledge: 1) by examining the processes which explain the impact of Facebook use on adolescents’ well-being, and 2) by investigating the conditions under which the impact of Facebook use on adolescents’ well-being may hold. To address these aims, we applied a differential and integrated approach. On the one hand, this approach differentiates between specific types of Facebook use instead of relying on general measures of Facebook use. On the other hand, this approach integrates theoretical perspectives from different fields instead of relying on a single theory. This approach offers us a more nuanced insight in, and a better theoretical understanding of, the relationship between Facebook use and adolescents’ well-being. To test the dissertation’s research questions, 1,102 Flemish adolescents (12-18 years) filled out paper-and-pencil questionnaires at three different time points. This design allowed us to conduct cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses. First, this dissertation shows that some Facebook peer-related behaviors can be harmful for adolescents’ well-being (i.e., social support seeking through Facebook, co-rumination on Facebook, negative comparison on Facebook, and peer victimization on Facebook), whereas others can be beneficial (i.e., perceived social support through Facebook). More specifically, the longitudinal data showed that co-rumination on Facebook predicts increases in depressive symptoms. Similarly, negative comparison on Facebook and peer victimization on Facebook predict increases in life dissatisfaction. With regard to social support seeking and perceiving through Facebook, results showed that seeking social support through Facebook predicts increases in depressed mood, whereas perceiving social support through Facebook predicts decreases in depressive symptoms. However, only the relationship between perceived social support and depressive symptoms could be confirmed longitudinally. Second, the study further indicates that indicators of a low well-being (i.e., daily stress, loneliness, life dissatisfaction, and depressive symptoms) predict specific types of Facebook use and Facebook peer-related behaviors. More specifically, results demonstrated that more loneliness is related to more passive and active public Facebook use, whereas more school- and family-related stress is related to more social support seeking through Facebook. In addition, the longitudinal data showed that life dissatisfaction predicts increases in negative comparison on Facebook, and that both life dissatisfaction and depressive symptoms predict increases in peer victimization on Facebook. The dissertation’s findings hereby reveal that it is meaningful to differentiate between specific types of Facebook use and Facebook peer-related behaviors in order to arrive at a more nuanced understanding of the relationship between Facebook use and adolescents’ well-being. Third, we can conclude that perceived social support (through Facebook) and co-rumination on Facebook are important explanatory mechanisms for the beneficial or harmful impact of specific types of Facebook use on adolescents’ well-being. Results showed that active Facebook use and social support seeking through Facebook are only beneficial for adolescents’ well-being when these types of Facebook use predict increases in adolescents’ perceptions of social support, whereas passive Facebook use is only harmful for adolescents’ well-being when this type of Facebook use predict decreases in adolescents’ perceptions of social support. In addition, active private Facebook use is only harmful for adolescents’ well-being when this type of Facebook use predict increases in co-rumination on Facebook. These results are in line with the social media affordances literature combined with theoretical insights from social comparison theory and the main effects hypothesis. Fourth, we can conclude that adolescents’ gender and perceived social support are able to create conditions under which the beneficial or harmful impact of specific types of Facebook use on adolescents’ well-being may hold. More specifically, building on the premises of social role theory, results demonstrated that passive Facebook use is especially harmful for girls, whereas active public Facebook use is particularly harmful for boys. In addition, the longitudinal data showed that active private Facebook use especially influences girls, both in a beneficial and harmful way. In line with the buffering hypothesis, findings also showed that high levels of perceived social support protect adolescents against the harmful outcomes of being victimized on Facebook. This dissertation hereby reveals that it is also meaningful to integrate different theoretical perspectives in order to better theoretically understand how specific types of Facebook use may influence adolescents’ well-being and who is particularly susceptible to being influenced by specific types of Facebook use. Overall, this dissertation contributes to the literature by revealing a new complexity: specific types of Facebook use are differently related to adolescents’ well-being through different mechanisms and in different groups. In addition, by revealing this new complexity, this dissertation not only offers new scholarly insight into the relationship between Facebook use and adolescents’ well-being, it also offers parents, teachers, educators, and practitioners valuable insights related to adolescents’ Facebook use.status: publishe

Exploring the relationships between different types of Facebook use, perceived online social support and adolescents' depressed mood

The current study aims to provide a deeper understanding of the relationships between different types of Facebook use, perceived online social support, and boys’ and girls’ depressed mood. To address this aim, the present study (N = 910) developed a comprehensive model which (1) differs between specific types of Facebook use, (2) examines the mediating role of perceived online social support, and (3) takes adolescent users’ gender into account. Structural equation modeling showed that the harmful impact of Facebook use exclusively occurs among girls who passively use Facebook and among boys who actively use Facebook in a public setting. Girls, however, who actively use Facebook, either in a public or private setting and subsequently perceive online social support, benefit from actively using Facebook, as perceived online social support negatively predicted girls’ depressed mood. The discussion focuses on the explanation and understanding of these findings, key limitations, and directions for future research.status: publishe

Vind-ik-(niet)-leuk: maakt Facebook jongeren ongelukkig?

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Toward an integrated and differential approach to the relationships between loneliness, different types of Facebook use and adolescents’ depressed mood

Although a variety of studies have examined the predictors or outcomes of adolescents’ social networking site use, these studies did not incorporate (1) an integrated, longitudinal approach to examine these relationships longitudinally in a single comprehensive model or (2) a differential approach to distinguish between different types of social networking site use. Therefore, this two-wave panel study (N = 1,612) developed an integrated and differential model to provide a deeper understanding of the relationships among loneliness, types of Facebook use, and adolescents’ depressed mood. Using structural equation modeling, the results point to the presence of a poor-get-richer effect regarding active public Facebook use but reveal a poor-get-poorer effect regarding passive Facebook use. The discussion focuses on the explanation and understanding of these findings.status: Published onlin

The impact of daily stress on adolescents' depressed mood: The role of social support seeking through Facebook

This study examined relationships among daily stress (i.e., school- and family-related stress), social support seeking through Facebook, perceived social support through Facebook, and depressed mood among adolescents (N = 910). Structural equation modeling showed that daily stress positively predicted adolescents’ seeking of social support through Facebook. In addition, when social support was sought on Facebook and subsequently perceived, social support seeking through Facebook decreased adolescents’ depressed mood. However, when social support was sought on Facebook, but not perceived, social support seeking through Facebook increased adolescents’ depressed mood. When comparing these relationships with similar relationships in a traditional social support context, results showed that the exacerbating impact of social support seeking on depressed mood exclusively transpires in a social networking site context. The discussion focuses on the understanding and explanation of these findings, and directions for future research.publisher: Elsevier articletitle: The impact of daily stress on adolescents’ depressed mood: The role of social support seeking through Facebook journaltitle: Computers in Human Behavior articlelink: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2014.11.070 content_type: article copyright: Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.status: publishe

"Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger": Negative comparison on Facebook and adolescents' life satisfaction are reciprocally related

Social networking sites, such as Facebook, offer adolescent users an ideal platform for negative comparison (i.e., experiencing negative feelings from social comparison). Although such negative comparison on Facebook has been associated with usersâ well-being, the reciprocal relations between the two remain unclear, particularly in an adolescent sample. To examine this reciprocal process, a two-wave study among a representative sample of Flemish adolescents was set up (NTime1 = 1,840). Data were analyzed using structural equation modelling. Cross-lagged analyses indicated that negative comparison on Facebook predicted decreases in life satisfaction over time. Conversely, lower scores on life satisfaction predicted increases in negative comparison on Facebook. The discussion focuses on the understanding of these findings, key limitations, directions for future research and implications for prevention and intervention strategies.status: publishe

Seksuele objectivering in een vampierenromance: een experimentele studie naar het effect van de film ‘Twilight’ op zelfobjectivering bij adolescente meisjes

Deze studie onderzoekt het effect van de populaire tienerfilm Twilight op zelfobjectivering bij meisjes in de adolescentie (N = 70). Een experiment wees uit dat blootstelling aan Twilight zelfobjectivering verhoogt. De rol van identificatie in het effect op zelfobjectivering werd eveneens onderzocht, maar niet eenduidig gesteund.status: publishe

The short-term longitudinal and reciprocal relations between peer victimization on Facebook and adolescents' well-being

Although studies have shown that depressive symptoms, life satisfaction, and adolescents’ online peer victimization are associated, there remain critical gaps in our understanding of these relationships. To address these gaps, the present two-wave panel study (NTime1 = 1,840) (1) examines the short-term longitudinal and reciprocal relationships between peer victimization on Facebook, depressive symptoms and life satisfaction during adolescence, and (2) explores the moderating role of adolescents’ gender, age, and perceived friend support. Self-report data from 1,621 adolescent Facebook users (48% girls; MAge = 14.76; SD = 1.41) were used to test our hypotheses. The majority of the sample (92%) was born in Belgium. Cross-lagged analyses indicated that peer victimization on Facebook marginally predicted decreases in life satisfaction, and life satisfaction predicted decreases in the probability of being victimized on Facebook. However, depressive symptoms were a risk factor for peer victimization on Facebook, rather than an outcome. In addition, support from friends protected adolescents against the harmful outcomes of peer victimization on Facebook. Both theoretical and practical implications are discussed.status: publishe