Research has shown that the use of social media in adolescence can increase the level of well-being if appropriate, but excessive or too little can lead to a U-shaped relationship that lowers the level of well-being.
Dr. Ben Singh’s team from the University of South Australia said in JAMA Pediatrics, a journal of the American Medical Association, on the 13th that the link between social media and youth well-being showed a complex and nonlinear pattern according to age and gender after three years of tracking 100,000 adolescents in the fourth grade to 12th grade.
The research team said the findings show that both adolescents’ complete avoidance of social media use and excessive use can be a well-being problem, and the effects may vary depending on age and gender.
Controversy continues over how social media relates to youth well-being due to the spread of smartphones. There are reports that excessive use is associated with psychological pain, but some point out that if not used, opportunities for social connection may be missed.
The research team measured social media usage time after school on weekdays and evaluated the level of well-being using eight indicators, including happiness, life satisfaction, and emotional control, on 109,991 students in the 4th grade to 12th grade of Australian elementary school (average age of 13.5) between 2019 and 2022.
Students were tracked for three years, divided into unused groups and intermediate groups (less than 12.5 hours per week) and top groups (more than 12.5 hours per week) according to their weekly social media usage time to analyze their association with well-being. As a result of the analysis, using social media a lot was consistently associated with worse well-being, but the social media usage time that can raise the level of well-being the most depends on age and gender.
Compared to the middle group using social media, the highest group was much more likely to have low well-being. The best group of girls in grades 7-9 was 3.1 times more likely to have low well-being than the middle group, and male students were 2.3 times higher.
The group who did not use social media was more likely to have low well-being in the 10th and 12th grades than the highest group. In this age group, female students who did not use social media were 1.8 times more likely to have a lower level of well-being than the middle group, and male students were 3 times more likely.
The research team explained that the study’s results show that the relationship between social media use and youth well-being is related to well-being with the best use of intermediate levels, and a U-shaped relationship with worse well-being when not used or used at the highest level.
He then emphasized that the impact of social media use may vary depending on age and gender, and that public health recommendations need a comprehensive strategy that can promote healthy and balanced use that is helpful for youth well-being beyond simple time limits.
SAM KIM
US ASIA JOURNAL
