Social Media Rumination: The Impact Of Materialistic Value Orientation

Previous research demonstrates that ruminating on social media content is associated with greater mental distress (Yang, Holden, Carter, & Webb, 2018). However, it is unclear what factors are associated with rumination. Using Self-Determination Theory (SDT) as a theoretical framework, this study examined how materialistic value orientation (MVO) predicted social media rumination in a sample of racially and socioeconomically diverse high school students at two waves of time. Those who are more materialistic value the means by which to gain possessions, and extrinsic life-goals associated with MVO are aimed at garnering external reinforcers such as money and social status (Richins & Dawson, 1992; Deci & Ryan, 2000). MVO and social media rumination were measured at Wave 1 and again four months later at Wave 2, as testing these variables’ relationships over time allows for bidirectional data that can inform how MVO impacts social media rumination and the opposite. A cross-lag analysis of social media rumination and MVO among 119 adolescents enrolled in a relationship education program indicated those with higher MVO at Wave 1 were more likely to ruminate over their social media more at Wave 2 than those with lower MVO at Wave 1. These findings suggest interventions targeting life-goal orientation and rumination among adolescents are warranted

Strategies for At-Risk Youth Achieving and Avoiding Distal Goals

Long-term planning may be beneficial for vulnerable youth, as goal-setting in therapy has been shown to be effective in helping prevent psychological distress and improve retention in therapy (Cairns., Kavanagh, Dark, & McPhail, 2019). In adolescence, the prefrontal cortex is not fully developed, and adolescents’ decision-making capabilities are more susceptible to stress than adults (Tottenham, & Galván, 2016). This finding may be particularly important for low income youth who may experience more stressful life events than adolescents from higher income homes (Reynolds, O\u27Koon, Papademetriou, Szczygiel, & Grant, 2001). Therefore, in an effort to better inform intervention services and supports, the current study sought to evaluate the long-term goals of at-risk youth and the current strategies they are engaging in to achieve those goals. Methods Data were collected from 187 high school students from predominantly low-income households in Champaign County participating in a school-based relationship education and job readiness training program. Students reported their goals for the next year and the current strategies they were utilizing to achieve them by completing the “possible selves task”. Goals were categorized using codes developed by the original authors of the “possible selves task” (Oyserman, 2004). Subsequently, following guidelines from Corbin and Strauss (2015), an inductive constant comparative method was used to categorize adolescents’ strategies.Preliminary Results Goals were categorized as relating to achievement, personality traits, health, and lifestyle. Strategies to reach these goals were categorized as relating to self-improvement, work and finance, school, staying out of trouble, and relationships. Goals and strategies reported by students demonstrated the diversity of experiences at-risk youth have in their schools, families, and neighborhoods. For example, many students reported goals related to improving their school performance through studying more, increasing school attendance, and completing their homework. Other students, however, reported goals and strategies strongly influenced by other stressors in their environments such as avoiding violence, gang membership, or jail time which they hoped to achieve by cutting off toxic relationships and avoiding the police.Conclusion Understanding how youth plan for their future and hope to achieve their goals can assist mental health and school professionals in targeting interventions to best support them. Some adolescents’ goals and strategies to achieve them may be unrealistic or maladaptive, suggesting a need for additional services or intervention.https://ir.library.illinoisstate.edu/urspsych/1010/thumbnail.jp

Bystander or Ally? : Predictors of Adolescent Behavior in Response to Microaggressions on Social Media

Microaggressions are a form of racism that Solórzano and Huber (2020) argue are understood and evaluated using the basic tenets of Critical Race Theory. Research suggests that high school students experience race- and sexuality-based microaggressions, although little is known about how microaggressive encounters that occur online impact adolescents. Research also suggests that college-age individuals are unlikely to intervene in response to microaggressive situations, but there do not exist any studies that highlight high schoolers’ responses to these transgressions. Although, there is evidence that adolescents experience online victimization based on their race (Tynes et al., 2008). Feelings of school connectedness, offensiveness of the post, knowledge of school policy, and social media rumination may be key factors in understanding how adolescents interpret and respond to online microaggressions. I recruited 134 adolescents to assess these variables and hypothesized that school connectedness, offensiveness, knowledge about school policy, and social media rumination would significantly predict adolescents’ intervention efforts when witnessing a microaggression towards a peer on social media. Results indicated that among the four predictor variables, participants’ feelings of offensiveness of the post explained the most variance in participants’ choice to intervene on microaggressive social media post

Loneliness: Explaining the Link Between Social Media Rumination and Psychological Distress

The present study found that among at-risk youth in a relationship education program, the relationship between social media rumination and psychological distress is mediated by loneliness. This suggests that more social media rumination affects psychological distress because of its link to loneliness. Implications for educational interventions for at-risk youth will be discussed.https://ir.library.illinoisstate.edu/urspsych/1003/thumbnail.jp

Awareness of Social Media Audiences among Adolescents in a School-Based Intervention

The current study investigated adolescents’ (N=213) decision finding processes and affective reactions to interactions on social media via 29 focus groups. As part of a larger study, adolescents participated in focus groups at two time-points across an academic year while participating in a school-based intervention promoting healthy romantic, interpersonal, and family relationships, job readiness, and financial literacy. Qualitative analyses indicated adolescents’ experiences and decisions on social media platforms were informed by their awareness of audiences, namely who they thought would view their posts and anticipated responses from “friends,” “family members,” “fans,” “creeps,” and “potential employers.” Comprehensive school-based interventions may serve to effectively develop responsibility more broadly, as well as a specific awareness about online risks and behaviors

The myofibroblast matrix: implications for tissue repair and fibrosis

Myofibroblasts, and the extracellular matrix ( ECM ) in which they reside, are critical components of wound healing and fibrosis. The ECM , traditionally viewed as the structural elements within which cells reside, is actually a functional tissue whose components possess not only scaffolding characteristics, but also growth factor, mitogenic, and other bioactive properties. Although it has been suggested that tissue fibrosis simply reflects an ‘exuberant’ wound‐healing response, examination of the ECM and the roles of myofibroblasts during fibrogenesis instead suggest that the organism may be attempting to recapitulate developmental programmes designed to regenerate functional tissue. Evidence of this is provided by the temporospatial re‐emergence of embryonic ECM proteins by fibroblasts and myofibroblasts that induce cellular programmatic responses intended to produce a functional tissue. In the setting of wound healing (or physiological fibrosis), this occurs in a highly regulated and exquisitely choreographed fashion which results in cessation of haemorrhage, restoration of barrier integrity, and re‐establishment of tissue function. However, pathological tissue fibrosis, which oftentimes causes organ dysfunction and significant morbidity or mortality, likely results from dysregulation of normal wound‐healing processes or abnormalities of the process itself. This review will focus on the myofibroblast ECM and its role in both physiological and pathological fibrosis, and will discuss the potential for therapeutically targeting ECM proteins for treatment of fibrotic disorders.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/94657/1/path4104.pd

ADOLESCENT STRATEGIES TO INTERVENE ON MICROAGGRESSIVE SOCIAL MEDIA POSTS

Microaggressions are a form of racism that Solórzano and Huber (2020) argue are understood and evaluated using the basic tenets of Critical Race Theory. Research suggests that high school students experience race- and sexuality-based microaggressions, although little is known how microaggressive encounters that occur online impact adolescents. Research suggests that college-age individuals are unlikely to intervene in response to microaggressive situations, but there do not exist any studies that highlight high schoolers’ responses to these transgressions. Although, there is evidence adolescents experience online victimization based on their race (Tynes et al., 2008). The researcher recruited adolescents from public high schools to assess adolescents\u27 intervention strategies when witnessing a microaggression towards a peer on social media. Adolescents were exposed to microaggressive social media posts written by a hypothetical peer and were prompted to discuss intervention strategies they might use. These data were analyzed qualitatively

WORRIED ABOUT THIS POST? HOW BULLYING INFLUENCES MENTAL DISTRESS

A.   Purpose Understanding the effects of social media is an important area of study because 95% of adolescents report having a smartphone and nearly half admit they are online almost constantly (Anderson & Jiang, 2018). Students engaging with social media may be inundated with self-presentation concerns (Seidman, 2013), a process that may be subsumed by a person\u27s tendency to engage in rumination (Feinstein et al., 2013). Although rumination-more generally defined-has been examined, there is a need to examine rumination that is social-media specific. Further, while social media usage has been examined in relation to cyberbullying (Best, Manktelow, & Talor, 2014), how social media is linked to face-to-face bullying is less clear. Therefore, the current study examines the mediating effect of social media rumination on the relationship between bullying and mental health distress. B.   Procedure During fall of 2018, in Champaign county, 171 youth aged 15-19, participating in the Champaign Area Relationship Education for Youth (CARE4U) program, completed pretest survey data. Participants completed questionnaires assessing social media rumination, mental distress, and bullying. Surveys were administered on tablets once parent permission and child assent were obtained. C.   Results To determine the structure of the social media rumination scale, a series of analyses were conducted. First, a parallel analysis was conducted to determine factor retention (Hayton, Allen, & Scarpello, 2004) followed by a principle component analysis. Of the 19 original items (e.g., I worry about how people will react to my social media posts. ), 7 were dropped resulting in a 12-item scale (α = .88). Next, we computed the indirect effect of bullying on mental distress through social media rumination in SPSS 25 utilizing Hayes (2013) PROCESS model. Results supported the mediation hypothesis, indicating that the indirect effect from bullying to mental distress, through social media rumination, was significant (β = 0.07, 95% CI = [0.02, 0.14]), R2 = .16. D.   Conclusions Our study demonstrates that youth who experience bullying increase their rumination of social media-related experiences, and subsequently experience greater distress. That is, social media rumination is one process through which bullying influences youth\u27s mental health functioning. It is possible that traditional bullying experiences cause youth to be more anxious or worried about their experiences online. Future research is warranted to expand this study and continue to validate this new social media rumination scale

SOCIAL MEDIA, MICROAGGRESSIONS, AND ADOLESCENT EFFORTS TO INTERVENE

High school students experience microaggressions, or subtle identity-based slights, although little is known about online microaggressions (Banks & Cicciarelli, 2020; Sue, 2010). Data was collected from 134 adolescents. We used a multiple regression analysis to examine our hypothesis that school connectedness, knowledge about school policy, and social media rumination will significantly predict participants’ likelihood to intervene when witnessing a microaggression on social media. Results indicated that perceived offensiveness of the posts was the only significant predictor of adolescents intervening