2 - (SYM 14) Linking Social Media Experiences to Momentary Affect in Adolescence

Social media (SM) use is ubiquitous and thought to play a role in teens’ mental health, though research linking total time spent on SM to mental health presents mixed findings with small effect sizes. To advance research in this area, we must move beyond measuring time spent on SM to understand what teens are experiencing on SM and how these experiences relate to everyday emotions. We thus sought to characterize teens’ SM experiences (SMEs) and link SMEs to momentary positive and negative affect (PA/NA).    

Analyses were preregistered. 94 teens (ages 12-15) self-reported their momentary PA (happy) and NA (composite of mad, sad, worried, lonely) 3-5 times a day for 2 weeks using ecological momentary assessment (EMA). At each EMA prompt, teens also endorsed which SMEs they had since the last prompt using a list of 6 negative SMEs (e.g., “I got into a fight, argument, or disagreement”), 3 positive SMEs (e.g., “People said supportive or encouraging things to me”), and 3 active social engagement SMEs (e.g., “I talked directly with a friend”). Frequencies of SMEs were calculated. Multilevel correlations and models were used to examine concurrent and lagged effects of positive, negative, and active engagement SMEs on affect; results were considered meaningful if the 95% CI did not contain 0.  

Teens reported positive SMEs more frequently than negative SMEs (t(93)=11.2, p< .001), with 90% of teens endorsing >1 positive SME and 59% of teens endorsing >1 negative SME. At both within-person (wp) and between-person (bp) levels, reporting at least one negative SME was associated with higher concurrent NA (wp: r=.27, bp: r=.26) and reporting at least one positive SME was associated with higher concurrent PA (wp: r=.13, bp: r=.25). At the within-person level, active engagement was associated with higher concurrent PA (r=.08) and NA (r=.10). No lagged effects were observed; SMEs did not predict prospective changes in affect.    

Findings provide key context for research on SM’s effects on teens’ mental health – a topic of widespread interest. Negative SMEs were relatively uncommon, and neither positive nor negative SMEs were linked to changes in affect. Active social engagement may be helpful or harmful depending on context (e.g., what a teen is talking about). Adults working with teens, including researchers and clinicians, should attend not only to how frequently youth use SM, but also to their specific SM experiences, which may elucidate targets for intervention. Caregivers and clinicians may also consider implementing strategies that capitalize on and support teens’ positive SMEs.