Social Media Addiction Profiles: Implications for School Connectedness, Psychosocial Well-Being, and Academic Achievement

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Friday 9:50 am Four Seasons Ballroom 2-3
  In Roundtable Session: Measurement, Connectedness, and COVID (Table 11)

Abstract

Despite potential benefits of social media as a uniting force, there is a growing concern that adolescents are spending too much time on social media, which has been linked to poor emotional, social, and academic outcomes (Marciano et al., 2022). In this study, social media addiction risk profiles were generated and compared with respect to school connectedness, emotional well-being, and academic well-being. The sample consisted of 25,931 adolescents in the United States. Latent profile and regression analyses revealed that social media addicted youth feel less connected with school, experience decreased emotional well-being, and have the lowest grades compared to same-aged peers. Findings provide support that students who attended middle school in-person during the COVID-19 pandemic may be the most at-risk.

Authors

• Emily Srisarajivakul, University of Memphis

• Maggie Chan, University of California - Berkeley

• Kailey Thornton, University of Memphis

• Tyler Renshaw, Utah State University