Poster #65 - Online and In-Person: Two Social Worlds as Predictors of Adolescent Adjustment

• In Event: Poster Session 11

Abstract

The influence of social media on adolescents is of particular interest to parents, researchers, and clinicians because it is the dominant form of interaction among this age group (Kelly et al., 2018). While many studies have documented associations between social media use and adolescent mental health (Bányai et al., 2017), missing from this work is the context of in-person time with parents and peers. In this study, the authors take a closer look at patterns of interaction with parents and peers, both online and in person to determine how these two social environments jointly and independently predict adolescent psychological distress, bullying victimization, school belongingness, and school performance. In addition, these effects are tracked over time to assess stability and change in online and in-person interactions.

Method

Sample. Adolescents (n=216, 49% male, Mage=15.4 years) were recruited from two rural combined junior/senior high schools in the upper Midwest of the United States and completed surveys at two time points separated by 3 months. A University IRB approved a passive consent procedure that resulted in a 90% response rate at T1 and 84% at T2.

Measures. Social Media Time (SMT) was measured in minutes per day for 9 different sites (e.g., Snapchat, Instagram). The frequency of In-person activities (number of meals per day and non-meal occasions per day) was assessed separately for parents, friends, and romantic partners. Six outcome measures included depression (PHQ-9), anxiety (GAD-7), cyber- and In-person bullying victimization (Multidimensional Peer Victimization Scale), the School Belongingness Inventory, and self-reported grades.

Analysis. Analysis was conducted for Time 1 data only, longitudinal findings on the stability of social media and in-person interactions and their associated effects will be reported in the conference paper. A series of hierarchical linear regressions were run to test if in-person and SMT time with parents and peers independently or jointly predicted adolescent mental health and school adjustment. Mediation and moderation effects were explored.

Results

Summed across the nine social media sites, females reported an average of 11.3 hours/day of SMT, versus 8.6 hours/day for males (see Figure 1 for a breakdown by site). Bivariate correlations revealed that SMT was positively associated with the number of in-person activities among romantic partners (r=.26) and friends (r=.18), but not parents (r=.02). Results from the hierarchical regressions indicated that SMT significantly added to the prediction of all outcome variables except school belongingness (see Table 1). More SMT predicted higher depression and anxiety, more bullying victimization (online and in-person), and lower grades. Spending more in-person time with parents predicted less depression and anxiety and greater school belongingness and higher grades. Nonetheless, the amount of time with parents did not serve as a protective factor against SMT effects. Spending more in-person activities with romantic partners predicted higher anxiety and depression. This effect, however, was mediated by SMT in the final model, suggesting that more time with romantic partners increases time spent on SMT. Results provide a more nuanced perspective on the effects of social media within the context of parent and peer in-person time.

Authors

• Harry Freeman, University of South Dakota
  Presenting Author

• Musheera Anis, University of South Dakota