ADOLESCENT SOCIAL MEDIA USE AND PSYCHOSOCIAL ADJUSTMENT: TOWARD A NEW RESEARCH AGENDA

As social media becomes a ubiquitous presence in the lives of teenagers, a growing body of research across disciplines has examined potential associations between adolescents’ social media use and the development of psychopathology. Much of this research has been limited to investigating the main effects of adolescents’ frequent social media use (or use of social media at all) on maladaptive outcomes. However, as the landscape of modern technology evolves, it has become clear that the use of social media—at high frequencies—is the norm among adolescents. As such, advancing our understanding of social media in the context of adolescent development requires a shift in theoretical perspective. The current studies represent a critical shift in the conceptualization of associations between adolescent social media use and adjustment. Drawing on a developmental psychopathology approach, these studies examine the specific ways in which adolescents use social media, the individual characteristics that may make them more or less susceptible to maladaptive social media behaviors and outcomes, and the developmental time periods during which they rely on these tools. These studies offer a rare opportunity in the field of adolescent social media use to examine longitudinal processes in multiple large, diverse samples of adolescents. Furthermore, they take a unique, multi-method approach, incorporating methodologies that include self-report measures, observational coding of social media pages, and peer sociometric nomination procedures.Doctor of Philosoph

The relationship between adolescent technology use and depressive symptoms: an integrative model of offline and technology-based risk factors

This study examined the role that specific technology-based behaviors (social comparison and interpersonal feedback-seeking) and offline individual characteristics may play in the relationship between frequent technology use and depressive symptoms among adolescents. A total of 702 students (57% female; ages 12 to 16) completed self-report questionnaires at two time points. Adolescents reported on levels of depressive symptoms at baseline, and one year later on depressive symptoms, frequency of technology use (cell phones, Facebook, and Instagram), excessive reassurance-seeking, technology-based social comparison and feedback-seeking, and sociometric nominations of popularity. Consistent with hypotheses, path analyses supported a complex moderated mediation model of the longitudinal relationship between frequent technology use and depressive symptoms, whereby gender and popularity served as moderators and technology-based behaviors served as mediators. Effects were found above and beyond the effects of offline excessive reassurance seeking and prior depressive symptoms. Findings highlight the utility of examining psychological outcomes of adolescent's technology use within the framework of existing interpersonal models of adolescent depression and suggest the importance of more nuanced approaches to the study of adolescents' media use.Master of Art

Technology-Based Communication and the Development of Interpersonal Competencies Within Adolescent Romantic Relationships: A Preliminary Investigation

This study investigated longitudinal associations between adolescents’ technology-based communication and the development of interpersonal competencies within romantic relationships. A school-based sample of 487 adolescents (58% girls; Mage = 14.1) participated at two time points, one year apart. Participants reported (1) proportions of daily communication with romantic partners via traditional modes (in person, on the phone) versus technological modes (text messaging, social networking sites) and (2) competence in the romantic relationship skill domains of negative assertion and conflict management. Results of cross-lagged panel models indicated that adolescents who engaged in greater proportions of technology-based communication with romantic partners reported lower levels of interpersonal competencies one year later, but not vice versa; associations were particularly strong for boys

Parent-Adolescent Sexual Communication and Adolescent Safer Sex Behavior: A Meta-Analysis

Parent-adolescent sexual communication has received considerable attention as one factor that can positively impact safer sex among youth; however, the evidence linking communication to youth contraceptive and condom use has not been empirically synthesized

Safe Sext: Adolescents' Use of Technology to Communicate About Sexual Health With Dating Partners

This study examined adolescents’ technology-based sexual communication with dating partners, and evaluated associations between technology-based communication and condom use

The Perfect Storm: A Developmental–Sociocultural Framework for the Role of Social Media in Adolescent Girls’ Body Image Concerns and Mental Health

In this theoretical review paper, we provide a developmental–sociocultural framework for the role of social media (SM) in contributing to adolescent girls’ body image concerns, and in turn, depressive symptoms and disordered eating. We propose that the features of SM (e.g., idealized images of peers, quantifiable feedback) intersect with adolescent developmental factors (e.g., salience of peer relationships) and sociocultural gender socialization processes (e.g., societal over-emphasis on girls’ and women’s physical appearance) to create the “perfect storm” for exacerbating girls’ body image concerns. We argue that, ultimately, body image concerns may be a key mechanism underlying associations between adolescent girls’ SM use and mental health. In the context of proposing this framework, we provide empirical evidence for how SM may increase adolescent girls’ body image concerns through heightening their focus on: (1) other people’s physical appearance (e.g., through exposure to idealized images of peers, celebrities, and SM influencers; quantifiable indicators of approval); and (2) their own appearance (e.g., through appearance-related SM consciousness; exposure to one’s own image; encouraging over-valuing of appearance; and peer approval of photos/videos). Our framework highlights new avenues for future research on adolescent girls’ SM use and mental health, which recognize the central role of body image

Longitudinal Associations Between Adolescents' Social Media Use and Character Development

For today's youth, social media may be transforming peer relationships and affecting adolescent development in ways that are not yet understood and that require longitudinal data collection. Youth are now increasingly turning to social media as a primary means of interaction with peers. In fact, social media may be transforming peer relations in fundamental ways that have yet to be empirically examined (see Nesi, Choukas-Bradley, & Prinstein, 2018). With 95% of teens having access to a smartphone and 89% of teens reporting going online multiple times per day (Smith & Anderson, 2018), it is critically important to understand how social media may affect adolescents' character development. However, while there is currently high-profile and public debate about the effects of social media on adolescent mental health and wellbeing, the extant empirical literature has been limited in several important ways. For example, prior research on youth social media use has primarily used convenience samples of undergraduate university students, who may differ from high school-aged youth in critical ways, given key developmental changes across adolescence. Additionally, most studies have been cross-sectional, examining associations between social media use and wellbeing at a single time point; such study designs cannot allow a determination of whether social media use precedes changes in wellbeing or vice-versa. Moreover, the vast majority of extant research has relied on basic assessments of social media use that focus on frequency (e.g., number of hours per day), which provide a superficial snapshot of youth social media use and cannot capture adolescents' specific experiences with social media. Assessing these specific experiences may be critical to understanding the complex ways social media may affect interpersonal, intellectual, and intrapersonal aspects of character. Examples of specific social media experiences that have been linked to adolescents' interpersonal relationships, mental health, and wellbeing in recent cross-sectional work include upward social comparisons through social media, appearance-related social media consciousness (i.e., excessive concern about one's physical appearance on social media), and problematic (e.g., addictive) forms of use (e.g., Choukas-Bradley, Nesi, Widman, & Galla, 2019; Nesi & Prinstein, 2015; Salmela-Aro, Upadyaya, Hakkarainen, Lonka, & Alho, 2017). While these measures have been validated for use with adolescents, research has yet to investigate how these social media experiences may be associated with character development over time. Furthermore, there is a lack of focus on the aspects of social media use that may foster positive development, such as through increased social connection and civic engagement (Lee & Horsley, 2017; Radovic, Gmelin, Stein, & Miller, 2017; Wang & Edwards, 2016). Using measures previously validated with adolescents in single-time point studies, this longitudinal correlational study will examine associations between adolescents' specific SM experiences and measures assessing the tripartite model of character (interpersonal, intellectual, and intrapersonal factors; e.g., Park, Tsukayama, Goodwin, Patrick, & Duckworth, 2017), with an emphasis on interpersonal strengths. Publication 1: Maheux, A. J., Nesi, J., Galla, B. M., Roberts, S. R., & Choukas‐Bradley, S. (2021). #grateful: Longitudinal Associations between adolescents’ social media use and gratitude during the COVID‐19 pandemic. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 31(3), 734–747. https://doi.org/10.1111/jora.12650 Publication 2: Roberts, S. R., Maheux, A. J., Hunt, R. A., Ladd, B. A., & Choukas-Bradley, S. (2022). Incorporating social media and muscular ideal internalization into the tripartite influence model of body image: Towards a modern understanding of adolescent girls’ body dissatisfaction. Body Image, 41, 239–247. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bodyim.2022.03.002 Publication 3: Ladd, B. A., Maheux, A. J., Roberts, S. R., & Choukas-Bradley, S. (2022). Black adolescents’ appearance concerns, depressive symptoms, and self-objectification: Exploring the roles of gender and ethnic-racial identity commitment. Body Image, 43, 314–325. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bodyim.2022.09.00

The impact of social media use on appearance self-esteem from childhood to adolescence – A 3-wave community study

Background: Social media users are extensively exposed to photographs displaying idealized self-presentations. This poses a potential threat to youth’s appearance self-esteem, but the negative impact may depend upon types of social media engagement. Youth who actively post updates (i.e., self-oriented social media use) may position themselves to receive positive feedback and appearance confirmation and thus show enhanced self- esteem, whereas youths who mostly view and respond to other’s posts (i.e. other-oriented social media use) are exposed to these idealized presentations, while not receiving positive feedback on their own appearance, which may result in reduced self-esteem. Methods: Children were interviewed about their social media use at ages 10, 12 and 14 years (n =725). Appearance self-esteem was captured by the Self Description Questionnaire I and the Self-Perception Profile for Adolescents. Results: Applying a Random Intercept Cross-lagged Panel Model, we found that increased other-oriented social media use predicted decreased appearance self-esteem from ages 10 to 12 and ages 12 to 14, but only in girls. Self-oriented social media use did not impact appearance self-esteem, and no reverse influence from appearance self-esteem to social media use was revealed. Conclusions: Findings suggest that other-oriented, but not self-oriented use, negatively affects appearance self- esteem from childhood to adolescence