Source reference
Velozo, J. D., & Stauder, J. E. (2018). Exploring social media use as a composite construct to understand its relation to mental health: A pilot study on adolescents. Children and Youth Services Review, 91, 398-402. doi:10.1016/j.childyouth.2018.06.039
Article type
Academic journal, study
Summary
This article describes a study that was done to determine the correlation between social media and mental health and the differences in gender roles in social media.
In-depth summary
Adolescent internet usage has grown tremendously over the past decade where teens are mainly using social media. This involves a wide range of activity including messaging apps, networking websites, photo or video sharing apps, and online games. Although there have been previous studies linking mental health and social media, none have focused on the specific realms of social media as this study will.
Mental health, which has internal and external dimensions, can be affected both in a positive and negative manner by social media. It is helpful because of:
- Better friendships
- Less loneliness and more bonding
- Safe space to talk about feelings/things teens are uncomfortable saying out loud (substance abuse, health, sex, etc.)
- Gives socially anxious people a chance to interact
Social media also causes negative feelings such as emotional loneliness. This has been seen in multiple studies such as college students using Facebook and having less of a bonding feeling and Dutch students having depressive symptoms after constantly using messaging apps and chatrooms. Anxiety and OCD are also increased with high phone usage. Teens are constantly checking their phone and feeling anxious when they are not able to check their social media. Social media use can also lead to ADHD, antisocial personality disorder, or bullying. Teens with more screen activity are more likely to be involved in bad or risky behavior. Also, “Some adolescents’ online behavior mirrors symptoms characteristic of addictive behavior, such as loss of control, preoccupation, conflict, and withdrawal symptoms (Meerkerk, Van Den Eijnden, Vermulst, & Garretsen, 2009)” (Velozo, 2018, p.399).
Each gender uses social media differently where boys tend to play games while girls interact with their friends. Gamers have lower levels of both internal and external problems. Boys usually use it when they have low self-esteem and want to communicate outside their group, and girls use it when they have high self-esteem in order to solidify friendships. Girls have higher levels of negative mental health problems from social media mainly due to visuals online. Other girls and their body image are portrayed inaccurately resulting in lower self esteem for the girls who do not look like that.
This study consisted of 72 participants (35 girls) ages 13-16. Multiple schools were involved. Each participant was emailed a survey where the parent and adolescent each had a section to answer. Parents answered questions regarding their child’s mental health state and teens answered questions about their social media use.
This results concluded that more time on social media socializing led to aggressive behavior. The Objective Self-Awareness Theory plays a part in this negative outcome because people tend to objectify themselves through social media and by making profiles. Comparing their profile to others, especially those who only post positive content, leads to lower self-esteem. It is possible for adolescents today to realize this false depiction and to consistently change their profile resulting in higher self-esteem. Other results show that self-regulation may be a factor in online shopping and conduct. Also, video gamers tend to show more addictive traits than other social media users.
Evaluation (strengths and weaknesses)
A strength of this paper is there are many examples not only in this study but also many cited from other studies to back up conclusions. The relation between studies helps verify the results. A weakness however, is the sample size used for the study was small. Also, when adolescents were asked to answer questions about their social media use some may have lied or may have had an inaccurate depiction of their social media usage.
Relation to my research question
This study relates to my research questions because it discusses the effects social media has on adolescents. It describes what each type of social media corresponds with mentally as well as the physical characteristics. There are also explanations as to why certain apps or websites are connected to certain behaviors.
Significant quotes
“Social media provides a safe space
for adolescents to share their concerns and learn about topics that are more
uncomfortable to talk about face-to-face such as substance abuse, health, or
sex (O’Keeffe & Clarke-Pearson, 2011)” (Velozo
et al., 2018, p. 398-399).
“Results from a longitudinal research on a sample of 663 Dutch students’ Internet use showed that instant messaging and chat rooms were associated with higher levels of depressive symptoms as well as compulsive Internet use six months later (van den Eijnden, Meerkerk, Vermulst, Spijkerman, & Engels, 2008)” (Velozo, et al., 2018, 399).
“Adolescents who spend more time on screen based activities are more likely to be bullied and perpetuate bullying they are also more likely to skip school and have low grades, drink alcohol, and have poor physical and eating habits (Busch, Ananda Manders, & Rob Josephus de Leeuw, 2013; Busch, Laninga-Wijnen, Schrijvers, & De Leeuw, 2017; Jacobsen & Forste, 2011)” (Velozo, 2018, p.399).
“Adolescents who spent more time on social media socializing, shopping, and those who followed a greater percentage of people they did not know in real life were more likely to exhibit conduct problems such as aggressive behavior, stealing, and lying” (Velozo, 2018, p.400).
“evidence from a study on college students suggested that time spent looking at others’ content was strongly related to greater feelings of loneliness (Burke et al., 2010)” (Velozo, 2018, p.400).
“Adolescents who spent more time playing games and posting content online were more likely to also display addiction-like symptoms such as preoccupation, and inability stopping” (Velozo, 2018, p.401).
Vocabulary words
Social media: any online platform that allows for teens to interact with one another
Internalizing problems: emotional difficulties that are internalized and can turn into depression, anxiety, and low self-esteem
Externalizing problems: disruptive behavior such as hyperactivity, peer problems, and behavioral problems such as getting into fights, lying, and stealing.
Phantom vibrations: the illusion that a phone is vibrating when it is not
Self-regulation: the ability to regulate emotional and physical responses to social stimuli according to social norms.
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