The Influence of Social Media Use on Emotional Stability and Social Support in Adolescence

• In Event: Poster Session 06
  In Poster Session: PS 06 Topic - Social, Emotional, Personality

Abstract

Research suggests a possible link between personality traits (e.g., neuroticism) and social media use (e.g., Correa et al., 2010). Individuals who are highly neurotic are considered to be less emotionally stable, that is they have difficulty balancing their emotions and are more reactive to stress. Adults who have low emotional stability report more frequent social media use (e.g., Blackwell et al., 2017), which may be explained by an attempt to frequently stay in touch with others to combat feelings of anxiety regarding personal relationships (e.g., Amichai-Hamburger et al., 2002). Additionally, adults who are low in emotional stability consistently report having less social support from friends and family (e.g., Siedlecki et al., 2013), which is also a predictor of increased social media use (e.g., Pentina & Zhang, 2016).While it is clear that emotional stability and social support influence frequency of social media use for adults, it is less understood how adolescents are also affected. With younger generations being exposed to social media progressively more, it is important to understand what may influence adolescents’ time spent on social media, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. The current study examined the relationship between social media use in adolescence and emotional stability, as well as the role that perceived social support plays. Higher levels of daily social media use was hypothesized to predict low emotional stability and high social support. Gender influences were also explored.

The sample consisted of 117 adolescents (n = 27 - ages 13-14; n = 90 - ages 15-17) recruited through Qualtrics. Girls accounted for 61% and boys 39% of the sample. Participants completed the Ten-Item Personality Inventory-(TIPI) and answered questions regarding perceived social support and time spent on social media each day.

Multiple regression analyses results demonstrated that female gender and amount of perceived social support were significantly positively associated with emotional stability. However, reported time spent daily on social media was associated with lower emotional stability. However, gender did not moderate the associations between social media use and social support with emotional stability. Logistic regression examined the association between emotional stability and social support on spending 5 or more hours per day on social media. Similarly, emotional stability decreased the odds of spending 5 or more hours per day on social media. A chi-square test of independence was also conducted to examine the relation between gender, social support, and emotional stability. The relation between these variables was significant. Boys with higher social support were more likely to have higher emotional stability.

The findings from this study suggest the importance of emotional stability on reported social media use in adolescence. Increased time engaging with others through social media platforms was significantly associated with the inability to balance emotions during stressful situations. Additionally, for adolescent boys, there was a positive association between perceived social support and emotional stability, such that lower levels of social support were associated with lower emotional stability. These findings have implications for better understanding increased social media use and the impacts it has on adolescent emotional well-being.

Authors

• Kassidy Colton, University of Rochester
  Presenting Author

• Stephanie Godleski, Rochester Institute of Technology
  Non-Presenting Author

• Ammina Kothari, Rochester Institute of Technology
  Non-Presenting Author