1. Active social network sites use and loneliness: the mediating role of social support and self-esteem
https://link-springer-com.ezaccess.libraries.psu.edu/content/pdf/10.1007/s12144-020-00658-8.pdf
This study examines the relationship between social network sites (SNS) use patterns and loneliness, as well as the mechanisms underlying this association. The mediating roles of social support and self esteem in this relationship were also tested. The method used for studying this relationship was a questionnaire given to a sample of 390 undergraduate students. These students self-reported and completed the Active Social Network Sites Use Questionnaire, the Rosenberg Self-esteem Scale, the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support Scale, and the Emotional and Social Loneliness Scale. The research found that social support substantially mediated the relationship between active SNS use and loneliness. The study specifically found that individuals who tend to use SNS actively are more likely to have a higher level of perceived social support, which is associated with a lower level of loneliness. The research also found that the pathway from active SNS use to self-esteem was not significant, meaning that the simple mediating effect of self-esteem between active SNS use and loneliness is not significant. This study relates to the research question explored by our class because it explores the relationship between social media use and mental health and analyzes self-esteem and social support as moderators of this relationship.
2. Social media use and mental health among young adults
https://link-springer-com.ezaccess.libraries.psu.edu/content/pdf/10.1007/s11126-017-9535-6.pdf
This study examines the use of social media among young adults and explores their tendency to engage in “vaguebooking,” which is defined as posting unclear but alarming sounding posts to get attention. The method used for this study was self reporting through questionnaires with a sample of 471 undergraduate students. The participants self-reported their demographic information and their time spent on social media. Three questions for this study assessed vaguebooking behavior, and to assess the degree to which participants were emotionally connected to social media use, participants completed the Social Media Use Integration Scale (SMUIS) which consists of 10 items assessing the emotional value of social media in their lives. The Brief Symptoms Inventory-18 (BSI-18) was used to assess three dimensions of psychological distress: somatization, depression, and anxiety. To assess participants’ perceived social support from family, friends, and significant others, they completed the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS). In addition, to measure participants’ perceptions of the quality of their relationship with their parents, participants completed the nine items that make up the Parent-Child Conflict component of the Family Dysfunction subscale from the Personality Inventory for Youth (PIY). To assess social anxiety, participants completed the Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale-Self-Report Version (LSAS-SR), and to assess symptoms consistent with the Histrionic Personality Disorder, participants completed the Brief Histrionic Personality Scale (BHPS). To assess participants’ need for belonging to a social group, they completed the Need to Belong scale (NTB). To assess loneliness, participants completed the UCLA Loneliness Scale-3 (UCLALon-3). To assess participants’ ability to experience empathy, they completed the Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI). Finally, to assess participants' tendency to respond to items in a way that favorably portrays them, participants completed the Marlowe-Crown Social Desirability Scale – Short Form. The results of this study indicated that social media variables were poor predictors of negative outcomes with an exception being that vaguebooking slightly predicted both loneliness and suicidal thoughts. Time spent online was not a predictor of any outcome. Among other predictors, social desirability was consistently associated with less reporting of negative symptoms. Social support was a consistent protective factor for all negative outcomes, while need to belong was associated with most negative outcomes, aside from increased empathy and increased suicidal thoughts. This study relates to the research question explored by our class because it examines social media use and negative mental health outcomes.
3. Does time spent using social media impact mental health?: An eight year longitudinal study
https://reader.elsevier.com/reader/sd/pii/S0747563219303723?token=B1FFC25E808119AD4629E4F01A48F7CAA451C04009534277E81499A150D4538B250277582A3029D31383D221F46DE7B1&originRegion=us-east-1&originCreation=20220917191125
This study examines the research question on whether time spent using social media impacts mental health. Specifically, this study explores within-person associations between social media time use and mental health using an autoregressive latent trajectory model with structured residuals. This is a particularly rigorous technique to examine the longitudinal, bi-directional, within-person associations between social media time use and depression and anxiety, over almost a decade of development and specifically between the transition between adolescence and emerging adulthood. The participants for this study were from collected from the Flourishing Families project, which is an ongoing, longitudinal study of inner family life involving families with a child between the ages of 10 and 13 from Waves 3-10, when social media was included in data measurement. The eight year study concluded that time spent using SNS was moderately related to anxiety and depression. There were no associations between time spent using social media and mental health across eight years in the sense that when individual adolescents used more social media than their own cross-time averages, they did not increase in either depression or anxiety. Similarly, decreases in time spent on social media did not indicate a decrease in depression or anxiety, which is at odds with much of the research literature, but do seem to echo assertions from some cross-sectional studies suggesting that the reported link between social media and mental health might be somewhat exaggerated. This research directly relates to our research questions because it examines the relationship between SNS use and mental health through a longitudinal study.
4. Social media stress and mental health: A brief report on the protective role of emotional intelligence
https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s12144-022-03035-9.pdf
This study examines the research question on whether social media use is associated with poor mental health and stress. Furthermore, this study’s mission is to understand the role of individual differences/personal attributes to examine whether emotional intelligence (EI) may be helpful in managing stress from social media. The participants that participated in this study include opportunity-sampled social media users that were recruited via social media networks. A range of scales and questionnaires were used and they include the Social Media Stress Scale, the Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale, and The Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale. The study concluded that individuals who are emotionally intelligent experience reduced levels of social media stress.
5. https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0226248&type=printable
6. https://psycnet.apa.org/doiLanding?doi=10.1037%2Fppm0000365
1. Active social network sites use and loneliness: the mediating role of social support and self-esteem
https://link-springer-com.ezaccess.libraries.psu.edu/content/pdf/10.1007/s12144-020-00658-8.pdf
This study examines the relationship between social network sites (SNS) use patterns and loneliness, as well as the mechanisms underlying this association. The mediating roles of social support and self esteem in this relationship were also tested. The method used for studying this relationship was a questionnaire given to a sample of 390 undergraduate students. These students self-reported and completed the Active Social Network Sites Use Questionnaire, the Rosenberg Self-esteem Scale, the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support Scale, and the Emotional and Social Loneliness Scale. The research found that social support substantially mediated the relationship between active SNS use and loneliness. The study specifically found that individuals who tend to use SNS actively are more likely to have a higher level of perceived social support, which is associated with a lower level of loneliness. The research also found that the pathway from active SNS use to self-esteem was not significant, meaning that the simple mediating effect of self-esteem between active SNS use and loneliness is not significant. This study relates to the research question explored by our class because it explores the relationship between social media use and mental health and analyzes self-esteem and social support as moderators of this relationship.
2. Social media use and mental health among young adults
https://link-springer-com.ezaccess.libraries.psu.edu/content/pdf/10.1007/s11126-017-9535-6.pdf
This study examines the use of social media among young adults and explores their tendency to engage in “vaguebooking,” which is defined as posting unclear but alarming sounding posts to get attention. The method used for this study was self reporting through questionnaires with a sample of 471 undergraduate students. The participants self-reported their demographic information and their time spent on social media. Three questions for this study assessed vaguebooking behavior, and to assess the degree to which participants were emotionally connected to social media use, participants completed the Social Media Use Integration Scale (SMUIS) which consists of 10 items assessing the emotional value of social media in their lives. The Brief Symptoms Inventory-18 (BSI-18) was used to assess three dimensions of psychological distress: somatization, depression, and anxiety. To assess participants’ perceived social support from family, friends, and significant others, they completed the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS). In addition, to measure participants’ perceptions of the quality of their relationship with their parents, participants completed the nine items that make up the Parent-Child Conflict component of the Family Dysfunction subscale from the Personality Inventory for Youth (PIY). To assess social anxiety, participants completed the Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale-Self-Report Version (LSAS-SR), and to assess symptoms consistent with the Histrionic Personality Disorder, participants completed the Brief Histrionic Personality Scale (BHPS). To assess participants’ need for belonging to a social group, they completed the Need to Belong scale (NTB). To assess loneliness, participants completed the UCLA Loneliness Scale-3 (UCLALon-3). To assess participants’ ability to experience empathy, they completed the Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI). Finally, to assess participants' tendency to respond to items in a way that favorably portrays them, participants completed the Marlowe-Crown Social Desirability Scale – Short Form. The results of this study indicated that social media variables were poor predictors of negative outcomes with an exception being that vaguebooking slightly predicted both loneliness and suicidal thoughts. Time spent online was not a predictor of any outcome. Among other predictors, social desirability was consistently associated with less reporting of negative symptoms. Social support was a consistent protective factor for all negative outcomes, while need to belong was associated with most negative outcomes, aside from increased empathy and increased suicidal thoughts. This study relates to the research question explored by our class because it examines social media use and negative mental health outcomes.
3. Does time spent using social media impact mental health?: An eight year longitudinal study
https://reader.elsevier.com/reader/sd/pii/S0747563219303723?token=B1FFC25E808119AD4629E4F01A48F7CAA451C04009534277E81499A150D4538B250277582A3029D31383D221F46DE7B1&originRegion=us-east-1&originCreation=20220917191125
This study examines the research question on whether time spent using social media impacts mental health. Specifically, this study explores within-person associations between social media time use and mental health using an autoregressive latent trajectory model with structured residuals. This is a particularly rigorous technique to examine the longitudinal, bi-directional, within-person associations between social media time use and depression and anxiety, over almost a decade of development and specifically between the transition between adolescence and emerging adulthood. The participants for this study were from collected from the Flourishing Families project, which is an ongoing, longitudinal study of inner family life involving families with a child between the ages of 10 and 13 from Waves 3-10, when social media was included in data measurement. The eight year study concluded that time spent using SNS was moderately related to anxiety and depression. There were no associations between time spent using social media and mental health across eight years in the sense that when individual adolescents used more social media than their own cross-time averages, they did not increase in either depression or anxiety. Similarly, decreases in time spent on social media did not indicate a decrease in depression or anxiety, which is at odds with much of the research literature, but do seem to echo assertions from some cross-sectional studies suggesting that the reported link between social media and mental health might be somewhat exaggerated. This research directly relates to our research questions because it examines the relationship between SNS use and mental health through a longitudinal study.
4. Social media stress and mental health: A brief report on the protective role of emotional intelligence
https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s12144-022-03035-9.pdf
This study examines the research question on whether social media use is associated with poor mental health and stress. Furthermore, this study’s mission is to understand the role of individual differences/personal attributes to examine whether emotional intelligence (EI) may be helpful in managing stress from social media. The participants that participated in this study include opportunity-sampled social media users that were recruited via social media networks. A range of scales and questionnaires were used and they include the Social Media Stress Scale, the Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale, and The Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale. The study concluded that individuals who are emotionally intelligent experience reduced levels of social media stress.
5. https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0226248&type=printable
6. https://psycnet.apa.org/doiLanding?doi=10.1037%2Fppm0000365