3-102 - Digital Media Experiences and Outcomes

Session Type: Paper Symposium

Integrative Statement

Adolescents’ are the heaviest users of digital media (DM; Lenhart, 2015). There are individual differences in the motivations for, processes, and outcomes of using DM. Understanding the features that impact how adolescents engage with DM, and the outcomes on adjustment of using DM, are important topics of research. In this symposium, we examine these factors with unique samples and methods. The first presentation will discuss results from a cross-cultural study examining how social anxiety relates engagement with Facebook among Bolivian and Canadian adolescents. Findings indicate that socially anxious adolescents in Canada are more likely to abstain from Facebook use; this was not the case for Bolivian adolescents. Motivations for using Facebook across cultures will be discussed. The second presentation will discuss how Big Five personality features relate to the content of adolescents’ Facebook communication in public and private messages. The Truth-and-Bias model (West & Kenny, 2011) is employed to examine if personality features relate to differential self-presentations in public vs. private Facebook communication. Adolescents tend to discuss antisocial and sexual topics and express positive and negative affect more in public than in private messages. Neuroticism moderates this distinction. The third presentation will examine how emerging adults’ technology use relates to internalizing problems. Multitasking while using DM predicted reduced self-esteem and increased negative affect, however these relations were moderated by social anxiety. Socially anxious individuals who multitask exhibited higher levels of self-esteem than those who do not. A leading scholar on adolescent DM use from New Zealand will serve as Discussant.

Sub Unit

• Technology, Media & Child Development

Chair

• Samuel E. Ehrenreich, The University of Texas at Dallas

Discussant

• Paul E. Jose, Victoria University of Wellington

Individual Presentations

• Measuring Facebook Depression and Anxiety: Constructing an Index of the Downsides to Social Media Experience - Presenting Author: Megan Alyson Wood, Concordia University; Bianca Panarello, Concordia University; William M. Bukowski, Concordia University

• Big Five Personality Features as Predictors of Differential Communication in Private vs. Public Facebook Communication - Presenting Author: Samuel E. Ehrenreich, The University of Texas at Dallas; Robert Ackerman, UT Dallas; Diana J Meter, University of Texas at Dallas; Marion K. Underwood, The University of Texas at Dallas

• The Relations among Media Multitasking, Tech Intensity, and Well-being for Emerging Adults - Presenting Author: Tyler Hatchel, University of Florida; Sonya Negriff, University of Southern California; Kaveri Subrahmanyam, California State University, Los Angeles