Social media and well-being: A methodological perspective

Psychometric evaluation and measurement invariance of the problematic smartphone use scale among college students: A national survey of 130 145 participants

BACKGROUND AND AIMS

Given the insufficient validation of previously imported smartphone addiction scales in China, this study revised and evaluated the Problematic Smartphone Use Scale among Chinese college students (PSUS-C).

METHODS

We based our research on a national sample comprising 1324 higher education institutions and 130 145 participants. Using cross-sectional data, comprehensive methods were employed to examine validity, reliability and measurement invariance.

RESULTS

The final scale consists of 20 items across four dimensions: withdrawal and loss of control, negative impact, salience behaviors and excessive use. All Heterotrait-Monotrait (HTMT) values were below 0.85, and the lower 90% and upper 95% confidence intervals were also below 0.85, except for factors 1 and 3. The amount of variance (AVE) values were greater than 0.5, composite reliability (ω) values exceeded 0.89 and all factor loadings were above 0.5. The criterion validity was supported as expected: problematic smartphone usage positively correlated with depression (r = 0.451), loneliness (8 items, r = 0.455), loneliness (6 items, r = 0.504), social media use (r = 0.614) and phone usage duration (r = 0.148); and negatively correlated with life satisfaction (r = -0.218) and self-esteem (r = -0.416). Across sex, type of university and place of residence, the measurement invariance performed well, with most changes in root mean square error of approximation (ΔRMSEA), comparative fit index (ΔCFI) and Tucker-Lewis index (ΔTLI) values being less than 0.005, and no indicator showing a difference greater than 0.010.

CONCLUSIONS

The Problematic Smartphone Use Scale for College Students (PSUS-C) demonstrated good factor structure, internal consistency, construct validity, discriminant validity and criterion validity. Strict and structural invariance were demonstrated across sex, type of university and place of residence. The PSUS-C has the potential to assess smartphone addiction among Chinese university students.

Appnome analysis reveals small or no associations between social media app-specific usage and adolescent well-being

The debate on how social media use (SMU) influences adolescent well-being is mostly based on self-reports of SMU. By collecting data and screenshots donated from 374 Swiss adolescents (Meanage = 15.71; SDage = 0.82) over 2 weeks, we created "Appnomes"-app-specific usage metrics on screentime, number of activations, and number of notifications per participant per day derived, and associated them with daily hedonic and eudaimonic well-being. Longer TikTok time predicted lower eudaimonic well-being (β = - 0.08) daily but higher positive emotions (β = 0.06) the next day; longer use of WhatsApp predicted negative emotions (β = 0.06) while more screen activations for WhatsApp predicted greater feelings of connection (β = 0.08). Instagram notification was positively related to increased feeling of focused (β = 0.06) the next day. YouTube screen unlocks predicted more feeling of meaning (β = 0.07) the next day. More Snapchat screentime predicted less relaxed, less competent, and less positive emotions (with - 0.07 < β < - 0.06). Results pointed towards minimal or no effects, challenging the moral panic on the detrimental impact of SMU on teen well-being.

Adolescents' Digital Technology Use, Emotional Dysregulation, and Self-Esteem: No Evidence of Same-Day Linkages

Concerns regarding the potential negative impacts of digital technology use on youth mental health and well-being are high. However, most studies have several methodological limitations: relying on cross-sectional designs and retrospective reports, assessing technology use as an omnibus construct, and focusing on between- instead of within-person comparisons. This study addresses these limitations by prospectively following young adolescents (n = 388) over a 14-day ecological momentary assessment study to test whether adolescents' digital technology use is linked with self-reported emotional dysregulation and self-esteem and whether these relationships are stronger for adolescent girls than boys. We found no evidence that adolescents experienced higher emotional dysregulation (b = - .02; p = .07) and lower self-esteem (b = .004; p = .32) than they normally do on days where they use more technology than they normally do (within-person). Adolescents with higher average daily technology use over the study period did not experience lower levels of self-esteem (between-person, b = - .02; p = .13). Adolescents with higher average daily technology use across the two-week period did report higher levels of emotional dysregulation (p = .01), albeit the between-person relation was small (b = .08). There was no evidence that gender moderated the associations, both between and within adolescents (bs = - .02-.13, p = .06 - .55). Our findings contribute to the growing counter-narrative that technology use does not have as large of an impact on adolescents' mental health and well-being as the public is concerned about.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s42761-024-00282-w.

How does social media use enhance employee's well-being and advocacy behaviour? Findings from PLS-SEM and fsQCA

Despite the extensive use of social media in workplaces, the implications of social media usage in organizational contexts such as employee advocacy and well-being have yet to receive significant attention from a research assertion. Thus, utilizing the conversation of resource theory, the current study analyses the relationship between work-related social media use and social-related social media use and employee advocacy behaviour. Moreover, it examines the mediating role of employee's psychological well-being and social well-being. An online survey was conducted to collect data based on a cross-sectional design. A total of 302 valid responses were collected from employees from the knowledge-intensive service industry. The PLS-SEM results indicated that work-related social media use and social-related social media use positively affect employee employee's psychological well-being and social well-being, whereas social-related social media use is positively associated to employee advocacy. Additionally, social well-being also positively affects employee advocacy. The mediation analysis also revealed that social well-being partially mediates the relationship between social-related social media use and employee advocacy, as well as work-related social media use and employee advocacy. The results obtained from fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) showed that different configurations, such as "∼Work-related social media use ∗ Social well-being", "Work-related social media use ∗ Social-related social media use", "Social-related social media use ∗ Psychological well-being", and "Psychological well-being ∗ Social well-being", generated high employee advocacy.

Developing a machine learning-based instrument for subjective well-being assessment on Weibo and its psychological significance: An evaluative and interpretive research

Demystifying machine learning (ML) approaches through the synergy of psychology and artificial intelligence can achieve a balance between predictive and explanatory power in model development while enhancing rigor in validation and reporting standards. Accordingly, this study aimed to bridge this research gap by developing a subjective well-being (SWB) prediction model on Weibo, serving as a psychological assessment instrument and explaining the model construction based on psychological knowledge. The model establishment involved the collection of SWB scores and posts from 1,427 valid Weibo users. Multiple machine learning algorithms were employed to train the model and fine-tune its parameters. The optimal model was selected by comparing its criterion validity and split-half reliability performance. Furthermore, SHAP values were calculated to rank the importance of features, which were then used for model interpretation. The criterion validity for the three dimensions of SWB ranged from 0.50 to 0.52 (P < 0.001), and the split-half reliability ranged from 0.94 to 0.96 (P < 0.001). The identified relevant features were related to four main aspects: cultural values, emotions, morality, and time and space. This study expands the application scope of SWB-related psychological theories from a data-driven perspective and provides a theoretical reference for further well-being prediction.

Social Media Use and Well-Being: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Prior research has investigated the link between social media use (SMU) and negative well-being. However, the connection with positive well-being has not been extensively studied, leading to a situation where there are inconsistent and inconclusive findings. This study fills this gap by examining the correlation between excessive and problematic SMU and subjective as well as psychological well-being (PWB). We conducted a systematic search across databases such as PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science, and gray literature sources such as Research Gate and ProQuest, yielding 51 relevant studies for meta-analysis, encompassing a sample size of 680,506 individuals. Employing the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale, we assessed study quality, whereas statistical analysis was executed using R Studio. Excessive SMU showed no significant association with subjective (ES = 0.003, 95% confidence interval [95% CI]: -0.08, 0.09; p = 0.94, I2 = 95.8%, k =16) and PWB (ES = 0.16, 95% CI: -0.15, 0.45; p = 0.26, I2 = 98%, k = 7). Conversely, problematic SMU showed a negative correlation with subjective (ES = -0.14, 95% CI: -0.20, -0.09; p = 0.00, I2 = 93.3%, k = 25) and PWB (ES = -0.19, 95% CI: -0.31, -0.06; p = 0.01, I2 = 95%, k = 5), with two outliers removed. No publication bias was detected. Subgroup analysis highlighted effects of "sampling method" (p < 0.05), "study quality" (p < 0.05), "developmental status" (p < 0.05), "forms of social media" (p < 0.05), and "type of population" (p < 0.01) on the estimated pooled effect sizes. Although univariate meta-regression showed the effects of "% of Internet users" (p < 0.05) and "male%" (p < 0.05), and multivariate meta-regression showed the combined effect of moderators only on the relationship between problematic SMU and subjective well-being.

Can social connections become stressful? Exploring the link between social media use and perceived stress in cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses of 25,053 adults

BACKGROUND

Social media has become a dominant part of daily lives for many, but excessive use may lead to an experience of stress. Only relatively few studies have investigated social media's influence on mental health.

AIMS

We aimed to investigate whether social media use is associated with perceived stress and changes in perceived stress over 18 months.

METHODS

The study population consisted of 25,053 adults (mean age 42.8; 62% women) from the SmartSleep Study. Self-reported frequency of social media use, of 10 specific social media platforms, and of perceived stress (the Perceived Stress Scale 4 item) was obtained at baseline and 18-months follow-up (N = 1745). The associations were evaluated at baseline and follow-up using multiple linear regression models adjusted for potential confounders.

RESULTS

Compared to non-use, high social media use (at least every second hour) was associated with a slightly higher perceived stress level at baseline. No association was found between the frequency of social media use and changes in perceived stress during follow-up. Only small differences in these associations were noted across social media platforms.

CONCLUSIONS

Further studies are needed to comprehensively explore the relationship between excessive social media use and mental health, recognizing different characteristics across social media platforms.

Passively sensing smartphone use in teens with rates of use by sex and across operating systems

Youth screen media activity is a growing concern, though few studies include objective usage data. Through the longitudinal, U.S.-based Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study, youth (mage = 14; n = 1415) self-reported their typical smartphone use and passively recorded three weeks of smartphone use via the ABCD-specific Effortless Assessment Research System (EARS) application. Here we describe and validate passively-sensed smartphone keyboard and app use measures, provide code to harmonize measures across operating systems, and describe trends in adolescent smartphone use. Keyboard and app-use measures were reliable and positively correlated with one another (r = 0.33) and with self-reported use (rs = 0.21-0.35). Participants recorded a mean of 5 h of daily smartphone use, which is two more hours than they self-reported. Further, females logged more smartphone use than males. Smartphone use was recorded at all hours, peaking on average from 8 to 10 PM and lowest from 3 to 5 AM. Social media and texting apps comprised nearly half of all use. Data are openly available to approved investigators ( https://nda.nih.gov/abcd/ ). Information herein can inform use of the ABCD dataset to longitudinally study health and neurodevelopmental correlates of adolescent smartphone use.

Social Media Use and Internalizing Symptoms in Clinical and Community Adolescent Samples: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Importance

In response to widespread concerns about social media's influence on adolescent mental health, most research has studied adolescents from the general population, overlooking clinical groups.

Objective

To synthesize, quantify, and compare evidence on the association between social media use and internalizing symptoms in adolescent clinical and community samples.

Data Sources

Peer-reviewed publications from MEDLINE, Web of Science, PsycInfo, and Scopus (initially reviewed in May 2022 and updated in October 2023) and preprints from Europe PubMed Central (February 2023) published in English between 2007 and 2023.

Study Selection

Two blinded reviewers initially identified 14 211 cross-sectional and longitudinal studies quantifying the association between social media use and internalizing symptoms, excluding experimental studies and randomized clinical trials.

Data Extraction and Synthesis

PRISMA and MOOSE guidelines were followed, pooling data using a random-effects model and robust variance estimation. The quality of evidence was assessed using the Quality of Survey Studies in Psychology Checklist.

Main Outcomes and Measures

Articles were included if they reported at least 1 quantitative measure of social media use (time spent, active vs passive use, activity, content, user perception, and other) and internalizing symptoms (anxiety, depression, or both).

Results

The 143 studies reviewed included 1 094 890 adolescents and 886 effect sizes, 11% of which examined clinical samples. In these samples, a positive and significant meta-correlation was found between social media use and internalizing symptoms, both for time spent (n = 2893; r, 0.08; 95% CI, 0.01 to 0.15; P = .03; I2, 57.83) and user engagement (n = 859; r, 0.12; 95% CI, 0.09 to 0.15; P = .002; I2, 82.67). These associations mirrored those in community samples.

Conclusions and Relevance

The findings in this study highlight a lack of research on clinical populations, a critical gap considering public concerns about the increase in adolescent mental health symptoms at clinical levels. This paucity of evidence not only restricts the generalizability of existing research but also hinders our ability to evaluate and compare the link between social media use and mental health in clinical vs nonclinical populations.

Adolescent Social Media Use through a Self-Determination Theory Lens: A Systematic Scoping Review

BACKGROUND

Social media is an integral part of adolescents' lives and has a strong influence on development and wellbeing. Research examining adolescent social media use and wellbeing is confusing as findings are inconsistent, inconclusive and contradictory. To address this issue, digital wellbeing scholars recommend that researchers adopt a theoretical approach with the aim of increasing meaningfulness and applicability of findings. Hence, this review applies self-determination theory to investigate how adolescent social media use supports and thwarts the basic psychological needs of relatedness, autonomy and competence. Satisfaction of all three psychological needs is essential for optimal development and wellbeing.

METHODS

A scoping review was conducted using a systematic search of five databases relating to adolescent social media use. The preferred items for systematic review and meta-analysis protocols (extension for scoping reviews) was applied resulting in 86 included studies.

RESULTS

Adolescent social media use both supports and thwarts relatedness, autonomy and competence. The findings highlighted how different aspects of adolescent social media use (including intra-personal, inter-personal, situational and environmental factors) contribute to the satisfaction and frustration of basic psychological needs.

CONCLUSIONS

This review illustrates how social media can be both beneficial and detrimental to satisfying the basic psychological needs of relatedness, autonomy and competence. This is important when considering that if psychological needs are satisfied or frustrated in adolescence, the repercussions can have a cascading effect throughout adulthood. This review identifies gaps in the literature and provides suggestions for future research.

The uses and gratifications of social media and their impact on social relationships and psychological well-being

This study aims to find the antecedents that lead to the adoption of social media among adults and older adults in Thailand and the impact it has on their social relationships and psychological well-being. It puts forward the uses and gratifications theory focusing on purposive value, self-discovery, entertainment value, social enhancement, and maintaining interpersonal connectivity. A survey comprising of 1,176 participants was undertaken in Bangkok, Thailand. The results of the structural equation modeling show that purposive value, entertainment value, social enhancement, and maintaining interpersonal connectivity had a positive relationship with social media usage, while self-discovery showed a negative relationship. Social media use seemed to positively affect both the social relationships and psychological well-being of their users. The discussions and conclusions included here describe how this occurs, as well as the academic and practical implications that follow from them.

On fear of missing out, social networks use disorder tendencies and meaning in life

Much research has been conducted on the association between social networks use disorder tendencies (SNUD; i.e. problematic social media use) and well-being. In more detail, a meta-analysis and further research suggest an inverse association between higher SNUD tendencies and lower well-being. In existing studies on social media use and well-being, this association has often been investigated by asking participants about their life satisfaction and/or emotional well-being. A path that has only recently been used to shed further light on SNUD tendencies is the assessment of meaning in life. Against this background, the present study aimed to investigate both the search for and presence of meaning in life in the context of SNUD tendencies in 955 participants. To the best of our knowledge and beyond what has been mentioned, this study is the first to investigate the links between meaning in life variables and state/trait fear of missing out (FoMO), with FoMO being a critical variable known to be linked to the overuse of digital technologies. In a structural equation model, we observed that associations between FoMO and meaning in life variables was mediated by SNUD tendencies. Although the present study is of cross-cultural nature and cannot establish causality, it might be the case that proneness to FoMO might trigger SNUD tendencies and as a consequence, results in more search for meaning in life, while hindering presence of meaning in life.

Social media as a bridge and a window: The changing relationship of adolescents with social media and digital platforms

Social media use became central to adolescents' lives and development during the COVID-19 pandemic, with some adolescents first initiating social media use in this period. The unique circumstances of the pandemic contributed to changing patterns of social media use among teens and popularity of features. The pandemic also facilitated use and engagement with social media to strengthen social connection, emerging identities, and access to information and resources. It also impacted teens' online experiences and exposure to broader societal problems on SM. Recent research, with a focus in the United States, is presented on how the pandemic has shaped adolescents' experiences with social media in meaningful ways across development. We argue that research on adolescent social media use needs to consider how the COVID-19 pandemic has shaped the use and influence of social media in adolescents today.

Using Browser Data to Understand Desires to Spend Time Online

There is growing recognition that many people feel the need to regulate their use of the internet and other digital technologies to support their wellbeing. In this study, we used Mozilla Firefox browser telemetry to investigate the role played by various usage factors in desires to regulate time spent online. In particular, we investigated how six metrics pertaining to time spent on the internet, and the diversity and intensity of use, predict participants' (n = 8,094) desires to spend more or less time online. Across all six metrics, we did not find evidence for a relationship between browser usage metrics and participants wanting to spend more or less time online. This finding was robust across various analytical pathways. The study highlights a number of considerations and concerns that need to be addressed in future industry-academia collaborations that draw on trace data or usage telemetry.

Perception and use of social media by Indonesian adolescents and parents: A qualitative study

Social media are popular among adolescents worldwide, including the global South. The way adolescents use social media is influenced by their own perception of social media but also by how their parents use and perceive social media. This study aims to understand how Indonesian young adolescents (12-15 years old) and parents of adolescents use and perceive social media. For this purpose, we conducted eight focus group discussions and eight semi-structured interviews with 30 Indonesian adolescents and 15 Indonesian parents. Thematic analysis of the qualitative data reveals that both adolescents and parents use social media for social, practical, and pleasure activities. Most adolescents mention that they consider themselves skilled in using social media, while parents consider themselves less skilled. Both adolescents and parents mention that social media offer benefits for adolescents, including emotional, social, and practical benefits. However, adolescents and parents also mention the risks of social media use for adolescents, including social, emotional, and informational risks, as well as the displacement of more meaningful activities. As such, both adolescents and parents do not perceive social media as inherently good or bad but rather as a novel medium that offers benefits for adolescents but also involves several risks to be considered by parents and other relevant stakeholders. This study adds to our understanding of social media use in the global South and offers a theoretical basis for future studies on the impact of adolescents' social media usage on wellbeing in an Indonesian context. However, future research is necessary to depict possible differences in social media use between Indonesia and other countries in the global South.

A longitudinal investigation on problematic Facebook use, psychological distress and well-being during the second wave of COVID-19 pandemic

The social isolation and the subsequent, increased use of Social Networking Sites due to the COVID-19 pandemic have had an impact on subjective well-being around the world. The present longitudinal study examined whether changes in psychological distress and well-being during the Italian second wave of the pandemic differ among people with different levels of Problematic Facebook Use (PFU). A total of 493 participants (M_age = 24.55 ± 7.25; 80.3% females) completed measures of passive use of Facebook, social comparison orientation on Facebook, fear of missing out, psychological distress (depressive symptoms and fear of COVID-19 pandemic) and well-being across three waves. Latent class analysis (LCA) categorized participants into three groups with different PFU levels: healthy users, moderate PFU users, and high PFU users. Hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) showed that the between-person level (class membership) accounted for most of the variability in psychological distress and well-being. No significant changes were found in psychological distress and well-being over time, but the High PFU users showed greater levels of psychological distress and lower levels of well-being at each time point. The findings of this study suggest that the relationship between PFU, psychological distress and well-being may reflect trait-like time-invariant differences between individuals rather than state-like changes.

Social media use and well-being: What we know and what we need to know

Research into the impact of social media use (SMU) on well-being (e.g., happiness) and ill-being (e.g., depression) has exploded over the past few years. From 2019 to August 2021, 27 reviews have been published: nine meta-analyses, nine systematic reviews, and nine narrative reviews, which together included hundreds of empirical studies. The aim of this umbrella review is to synthesize the results of these meta-analyses and reviews. Even though the meta-analyses are supposed to rely on the same evidence base, they yielded disagreeing associations with well- and ill-being, especially for time spent on SM, active SMU, and passive SMU. This umbrella review explains why their results disagree, summarizes the gaps in the literature, and ends with recommendations for future research.