Associations of early social media initiation on digital behaviors and the moderating role of limiting use

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2021.107053Get rights and content

Highlights

  • Early adolescents more frequently engage in positive digital behaviors compared to negative ones.

  • Using Instagram or Snapchat before age 11 is related to more problematic digital behaviors.

  • Youngest social media initiators are more likely to engage in supportive online behaviors.

  • Limiting access to social media lessened some negative effects of early social media use.

Abstract

Little is known about the effects of social media initiation on digital behaviors from middle childhood to early adolescence, a critical developmental period marked by peer influence and inaugural access to mobile devices. Participants from middle schools in the Northeast U.S. (N = 773; 11–15 years, Mean = 12.6) completed a cross-sectional survey about social media initiation, digital behaviors, and parental restrictions on digital use. Descriptive results demonstrated that overall early adolescents more frequently engaged in positive digital behaviors compared to negative ones. Results from structural equation models showed that initiating social media platforms, namely Instagram or Snapchat, in later childhood (10 years or younger) was significantly associated with problematic digital behavior outcomes compared to either tween (11–12) and/or teen (13+) initiation, including having online friends or joining social media sites parents would disapprove of, more problematic digital technology behaviors, more unsympathetic online behaviors, and greater likelihood of online harassment and sexual harassment victimization. Additionally, there is evidence to show that childhood initiators demonstrated a greater tendency to engage in supportive or civically-engaged online community behaviors compared to older initiator counterparts. Parental restriction of mobile phone use and a less frequent checking of social media ameliorated some of the negative effects.

Introduction

Little is known about effects of early initiation to social technologies on psychosocial and behavioral health outcomes in early adolescence (ages 11–15), even though 95% of teens aged 13–17 have access to a smartphone, 72% use Instagram, and 69% use Snapchat (Anderson & Jiang, 2018). Popular social media sites such as Instagram and Snapchat all require a minimum age of 13 to register. Despite this federally mandated age limit due to Children's Online Privacy and Protection Act (COPPA; Federal Trade Commission, 2002) and sporadic regulatory practices to deter under age use by social media companies, it is estimated that 3.6 million of Facebook's 153 million monthly visitors in the U.S. are under the age of 12 (Richtel & Helft, 2011). As of 2016, a UK study found that 73% of 10–12 year olds had signed up for a social media site despite the age restrictions (Coughlan, 2016). More recently, 1.7 million Instagram users were under the age of 12 (Clement, 2019). Due to the vulnerability of this age and the prevalence of early adolescents' social media use, it is of practical, social, and scientific significance especially in the age of Open Science Communication to explore (a) associations of early social technology initiation with psychological and digital health outcomes; and (b) whether family rules around social technology use moderate these associations.

The federally mandated age minimum of 13 for social media use set by COPPA originates from a governmental entity (US Federal Trade Commission) rather than from science. It stems from a need to protect children from commercial interests and collection of their personal data without their knowledge rather than from a developmental rationale – a dilemma which Open Science practices can address through sharing of interdisciplinary research findings with industry partners. Behavioral scientists have hypothesized that potential consequences of early adoption could include a dependency on technologies for social interaction, particularly with increasing access to smartphones in younger groups (Elliott & Urry, 2010). Still, many federal age restriction mandates are based on societal fears about the long-term implications of Internet use with negative consequences such as early sexual priming (Subrahmanyam et al., 2004) or aggression via gaming (Irwin & Gross, 1995). There is a scarcity of studies on effects of early social media use, disentangling its potentially unique influences from other social technology use (e.g., mobiles, internet). We urgently need empirical research that examines psychosocial and behavioral health impacts of early adoption of different types of social technologies, in order to inform federal mandates with scientific evidence rather than market, policy, or industry-based motivations.

We define social technologies as digital media technologies dealing with social interactions that occur beyond the solitary browsing of internet sites. They may include text-based or internet-connected devices (e.g., iPads, smartphones) or platforms (e.g., Discord, Youtube channels, multi-user online games) designed to allow for interaction with other users. Social media has been defined as encompassing social networking sites, micro blogs (e.g., Tumblr), content sharing sites (e.g., Snapchat), blogs, Wikis, and interactive gaming sites that provide opportunities for users to share and co-construct content (Kuss & Griffiths, 2017). We define social media initiation as the period of time when teens sign up for their own account and create an online profile inviting others to join their social network. Often this can entail misrepresenting one's birthdate or age in order to sign up. There are ongoing public conversations about when to introduce media technologies to children, with developmental psychologists warning against screen-time under the age of 2 (Zimmerman et al., 2007) and Internet use among pre-teens and teenagers (Greenfield & Yan, 2006). The American Academy of Pediatrics has developed more nuanced guidelines, recommending that for children aged 6 and over, limits placed on time spent and types of media used are predicated on whether it displaces time spent getting adequate sleep, physical exercise, and other essential healthy behaviors (American Academy of Pediatrics, 2016). However, scientific evidence and guidance is lacking on the developmental implications of initiating social technologies in the critical period of early adolescence.

Since the early years of mobile communication, adolescents have helped drive its mass adoption and remain the most active users today, developing their own social spheres in interactive, multimedia rich environments (boyd, 2007). In a major shift from when Facebook was the most popular social media site among teens (aged 13–17), in 2018, sites such as YouTube (85%), Instagram (72%), and Snapchat (69%) emerged as the most frequently used sites. (Anderson & Jiang, 2018). In a recent poll, teens were asked which social media sites they preferred to be contacted for brand and commercial product engagement and 70% of them preferred Instagram, 40% preferred Snapchat, and only 10% chose Facebook (Sheetz, 2018). Social media sites are increasingly and intricately tied to adolescent daily behavior. Forty-five percent of adolescents aged 13–17 go online constantly, 44% go online several times a day, and 95% of teens from all racial backgrounds have access to a smartphone (Anderson & Jiang, 2018). However, the vast majority of studies on social technologies examine college-aged or high school populations. Rarely do studies focus on early adolescence when children begin to use social technologies more frequently.

The early adolescent years (between 10 and 15) are marked by pubertal development, cognitive maturation, school transitions, social identity redefinitions, and the emergence of sexuality. Early adolescence is a particularly vulnerable age due to heightened awareness of peer status, approval, and rejection (Steinberg & Silverberg, 1986). It is associated with a drop in self-esteem, weaker academic performance, and increased anxiety and competition with others (Brinthaupt & Lipka, 2002). Social technologies can facilitate the defining of a peer community or “friendship network” that can invite both positive and negative influences (Charmaraman, Gladstone, & Richer, 2018; James et al., 2017), such as inspiration and closeness as well as disconnection and distress (Weinstein, 2018). Early adolescence can also include a temporary increase in parent-child conflict around autonomy and control over mobile devices, particularly when parents lag behind their adolescent's understanding of how to access and use social technologies (Charmaraman & Grossman, 2014; Mesch, 2006). Therefore, early adolescence is a critical developmental period to study parent and peer influences on social technology use.

Due to young teens' limited capacity to self-regulate and susceptibility to peer pressure (O'Keeffe & Clarke-Pearson, 2011), the potential for engaging in unsafe online and social networking behaviors (e.g., having social media accounts their parents don't know about, entering into online relationships with unfamiliar adults) may increase as adolescents seek autonomy and separation from their familial networks (Madden et al., 2013). Teens are particularly vulnerable to what they witness on social technologies (Brinthaupt & Lipka, 2002; Ellison et al., 2007). Exposure to risky content posted by friends can cultivate behavioral norms that are then spread through online networks and contribute to the adoption of risky attitudes and behaviors (Moreno, 2011).

In a national study of over 1500 students aged 10–15, 33% experienced online harassment in the past year, of which 9% were directly linked to a social media site (Ybarra & Mitchell, 2008). Most studies about cyberbully victimization report between 20 and 40% victimization rates in childhood and adolescence (Aboujaoude et al., 2015), which can vary by subgroup (e.g., gender, ethnicity, grade level, etc.). Negative peer online interactions can result in increased levels of cyberbullying via establishment of a peer group culture that rewards bullying behavior, such as through posting hurtful pictures (Dodge et al., 2006). The transient nature of Snapchat can come with both freedom of expression but also digital relationship challenges (Vaterlaus et al., 2016).

Contrary to media hype reports, adolescents who receive unwanted online sexual solicitation are typically harassed by other youth and not adults. Online peer sexual harassment (SH) has been reported in the range of 3–11.96% depending on how one defines it (Jones et al., 2012; Klettke et al., 2014). Often it is difficult to prove these online transgressions due to the ephemeral affordances of a site like Snapchat (Handyside & Ringrose, 2017). Instead of focusing on exploration of sexuality through exchange of digital content or “sexts” (Rice et al., 2018) that is more normative during adolescence, our focus in the current study is on unwanted or unwelcomed sexual comments, which have been attributed to a larger peer climate of dismissive attitudes about sexual harassment in middle school (Charmaraman et al., 2016).

The fear of missing out is a pervasive need to stay connected with other people's activities for fear of being absent from those plans (Przybylski et al., 2013). This fear of being left behind is potentially heightened among tweens and teens using social technologies given the pervasive access to social media feeds, displaying the social content of their peer network's lives. Several studies have proposed that FoMO serves as a mediator variable connecting psychological needs to social media engagement. For instance, FoMO mediates the link between social media engagement and indicators of wellbeing (e.g., mood, life satisfaction, online vulnerability) (Buglass et al., 2017; Przybylski et al., 2013). FoMO is also a predictor of smartphone addiction and maladaptive mobile phone use (especially for females) (Oberst et al., 2017), more frequent Facebook use, and feeling unpopular and socially isolated on Facebook (Beyens et al., 2016). Barry et al. (2017) posit that adolescents (aged 14–17) who experience FoMO approach social media as a way to avoid being isolated from others, as opposed to a desire to connect with others. They argue that social media use is intricately related to internalizing problems with youth who are preoccupied with being excluded. We considered whether, in addition to driving how teens interact with social technologies, FoMO may also be an unintended consequence of social media use by examining whether early initiation of social media use (i.e., middle childhood) is linked with experiences of FoMO in early adolescence.

Despite ongoing fears of new technologies having negative effects on our youth, emerging research suggests that under the right conditions, social media engagement can provide both instrumental and social support (Odgers & Jensen, 2020). Adolescents with lower social and emotional wellbeing, such as those with severe depressive symptoms, are more likely to report going online to their peers on social media for emotional support (Rideout & Fox, 2018). In fact, high Instagram and Snapchat use in early adolescence has been found to predict greater close friendship competence and perceived peer support (Vannucci & McCauley Ohannessian, 2019). Social technology use also provides potential opportunities to exercise online civic engagement (Van Hamel, 2011, p. 36) and prosocial online behaviors (Erreygers et al., 2017). A study of 979 11–17 years old youth found that greater levels of online civic engagement was significantly associated with less harassment perpetration and greater likelihood to help as a bystander (Jones & Mitchell, 2016). In addition to examining links between age of social technology initiation and negative digital behaviors, the current study also considers the links between age of social technology initiation and positive digital behaviors such as positive social media use and sympathetic online behaviors.

Parental monitoring has shown protective influences for teens' social media use, while lack of monitoring increases the likelihood that a student will be an online cyber perpetrator (Hemphill & Heerde, 2014). A longitudinal study (Hemphill & Heerde, 2014) following students from age 10 to 19 showed that predictors of adolescent cyberbullying perpetration included lack of clear parental rule-setting. Given that parents can intervene, discourage, or exacerbate cyberbullying (Spears et al., 2009), parental restriction of adolescents’ online behavior may represent an important prevention target.

One aspect of parental monitoring associated with lower levels of negative social media behaviors is “restrictive mediation,” which encapsulates parent rule-setting to limit teens' social media use (Collier et al., 2016). A review of research found that restrictive mediation of children's social media use can decrease children's and adolescents' time spent using social media and their exposure to mature content (Collier et al., 2016). Other studies found that parental restrictions on teens' social media use were associated with lower teen engagement in risky online activities (Lee, 2012; Notten & Nikken, 2016). However, overly restrictive rules after children enter adolescence could also backfire, with tweens reporting anger at parents on imposing strict limits (Evans et al., 2011). With few exceptions (e.g., Badenes-Ribera et al., 2019) most studies of parental restrictive mediation for social media use focus on middle to late adolescence, while the role of parents in teens' social media use during middle childhood and early adolescence is not well understood.

A recent study demonstrated that obtaining a smartphone at a later age (e.g., 13 instead of 10) was associated with positive behavioral health outcomes, such as increased sleep time and earlier bedtimes (Charmaraman et al., 2021). Intricately related to social media rule-setting are parental attitudes towards smartphone use (i.e., appropriate age to get a first smartphone), the need for restrictions on their use (Rideout, 2015), and the tensions that can arise when tweens perceive their first smartphone as a way to assert their personal autonomy (Weinstein & Davis, 2015). As the predominant mode of accessing the internet changes from co-viewing tablets with parents to more private use of personal mobile devices, increased conflict with parents restricting tablet use (Beyens and Beullens, 2017) can spillover into the realm of smartphone use. Given growing rates of smartphone addiction among adolescents (e.g., Lee & Lee, 2017), research is needed to address how parents monitor smartphones specifically. One study found that parents who were concerned about their teens' smartphone use and had efficacy to intervene were more likely to use restrictive mediation to regulate their teens’ smartphone use (Hwang et al., 2017). Studies of Asian teens found that lower levels of restrictive mediation were associated with higher smartphone addiction (Chang et al., 2019; Lee & Kim, 2018). Additionally, more frequent social media use has been associated with more frequent parent-child conflict and social isolation within families, which may be exacerbated during the early adolescent years due to the negotiating of social media boundaries at this critical developmental stage (Dworkin et al., 2018; Vannucci & McCauley Ohannessian, 2019).

The effectiveness of parents' restrictions in preventing negative consequences may in part depend on the manner in which parents communicate their restrictions to their children and adolescents. For instance, discussing media content with the intention of respecting a child's autonomy and sense of agency (as opposed to being controlling) can lead to higher acceptance of the value of the rules themselves (Fikkers et al., 2017; Valkenburg et al., 2013) and more prosocial online behavior (Meeus et al., 2018). Further research is needed to understand when is the most effective time for parents to establish rules for social media use, which may be intricately tied to social media frequency. In the current study, we consider whether parental restrictive monitoring, defined as setting limits on the amount of time teens are allowed to use their phone or internet each day, ameliorated the links between social technology initiation and problematic digital behaviors.

Social technology behaviors are not individual acts in isolation but rather choices made within larger social contexts (Bronfenbrenner, 1989). During this critical developmental period of seeking autonomy from parents and exploring sexuality and identity with peers (Erikson, 1968), the peer social context becomes especially critical. According to the transformation framework (Nesi et al., 2018), the social media context affords adolescents a natural field to practice their peer relationship building skills through self-disclosure, digital communication, and providing social support. On the flipside, this social context can also be a digital space that exacerbates adolescent tendencies toward negative self-evaluations, risky peer norms, and unsympathetic online behaviors. Since early adoption of media habits is linked to later consumption (Anderson et al., 2001), parental influences that limit exposure to social technologies for younger children may be associated with a lowered risk of unhealthy amounts of consumption in older children.

The popularity of different social media sites among young teen users continues to change, therefore studies need to continually assess and adapt to these changes. A social media affordances framework is useful for understanding how the key attributes of social media platforms can influence adolescent functioning due to distinct usage features that are under constant evolution (Moreno & Uhls, 2019). Affordances are design attributes that suggest to social media users how these platforms could be used, such that how a social media site (e.g., Snapchat) is perceived to have particular affordances (e.g., time-limited posts) results in attracting certain types of users and may invite behaviors that fulfill different developmental needs (e.g., privacy when trying new identities; boyd, 2007; Karahanna et al., 2018; Moreno & Uhls, 2019). For instance, social affordances of hashtags provide users a method to influence social connections and publicness of posts.

Based on this developmental affordances framework of social media, the current study focuses on Instagram and Snapchat when determining when a participant initiates social media for the first time for the following reasons: a) the massive popularity of image-based social media sites of Instagram and Snapchat among tweens and teens; b) the affordances of Instagram and Snapchat facilitate identity formation and novel opportunities for frequent, immediate, and salient displays of friendship and feedback-seeking in a perceived safe space (boyd, 2007; Nesi et al., 2018; Throuvala et al., 2019) in more salient ways than other popular sites (e.g., Tik Tok, YouTube); c) specific affordances of Instagram and Snapchat are hypothesized to be associated with more frequent social media use. For example, the feature of “streaks” in Snapchat, highlighting the number of consecutive days online friends exchange content, has been found to increase the likelihood of more frequent and compulsive involvement with social media (Griffiths, 2018).

Despite evidence that teens under age 13 are accessing social media sites in rapidly growing numbers (Valkenburg et al., 2005), much of the existing academic research on social technology use has focused on older adolescents and young adults (Valkenburg & Peter, 2007), who are well past the critical developmental period when social technology usage begins (Davis et al., 2020). A recent review (Odgers & Jensen, 2020) confirmed that this early adolescent period has been largely neglected in prior research, despite this developmental period being highly relevant to understanding transitions into digital environments. Although there have been emerging studies that examined tweens and younger teens social technology use (e. g., Valkenburg & Peter, 2007) and parental mediation behaviors in this population (e.g., Meeus et al., 2019), the role of social media initiation among young teens and tweens in predicting later digital behaviors is sparse. Investigating positive and negative associations with early social media initiation may provide some insights into developmental benefits and tradeoffs depending on the user's age and personal characteristics. A recent review of the benefits and costs of social media in adolescence (Uhls et al., 2017) recommended that future research examines the best age to begin using social media, under what restrictions, and what factors might moderate the relations between social media and outcomes. Additionally, the vast majority of studies have focused primarily on negative impacts of digital technologies during adolescence (Odgers & Jensen, 2020). This is the first study of its kind to cross-sectionally examine both positive and negative associations of social media initiation focusing specifically on the 2 most popular U.S. sites (Instagram and Snapchat) in three age subgroups (childhood, tween, and teen), and the moderating role of parental restrictive mediation of phones and internet use.

The aims of the present study were to a) investigate the relationship between the age period of social media initiation (e.g., child, tween, or teen) and social technology behavior outcomes and b) whether parent restrictions on technology use or frequency of checking social media moderated the relationships between age period of initiation and outcomes. We explored the following hypotheses: H1: The younger the age of initiation into social media, the greater likelihood of negative and less likelihood of positive social technology outcomes; H2: Parent restrictions on social technology use will buffer the negative associations of early initiation into social media; H3: The greater the frequency of checking social media, the more negative associations will be found from early initiation of social media.

Section snippets

Method

Middle schools in the Northeastern United States were recruited based on varying school enrollment size (e.g., small, medium, or large), 100% Internet access in school, and diverse racial/ethnic composition (e.g., a minimum of 30% of students who identified as racial/ethnic minorities). After obtaining IRB from our institution and school district-level permissions, we worked closely with school liaisons to distribute parent informed consent/opt-out forms (in English, Spanish, and Portuguese)

Descriptive statistics

Ninety-two percent of students reported owning a smartphone and 73.7% of the sample had joined either Instagram or Snapchat. Out of the participants who had already received their first smartphone, the age at which this occurred ranged from age 8 or younger to 14 (M = 10.40, SD = 1.35). Participants reported the reasons why they first began using a personal smartphone with the majority of the participants indicating that it was for parents to reach them wherever they were (70%) or in case of

Discussion

The main objective of the study was to explore if the age at initiating Instagram and Snapchat is associated with positive or negative early adolescent digital behaviors, particularly since these social media platforms are most popular at this age. The overall pattern of findings suggested that the oldest initiator group (age 13+) was associated with the most frequent parent limit setting, the fewest online friends in networks, fewer problematic digital technology behaviors, less problematic

Credit author statement for computers in human behavior

Linda Charmaraman: Conceptualization, Methodology, Investigation, Writing – original draft, Supervision, Funding acquisition. Alicia Doyle Lynch: Conceptualization, Methodology, Writing – original draft, Formal analysis, Visualization. Amanda M. Richer: Methodology, Writing – original draft, Formal analysis, Data curation, Visualization. Jennifer M. Grossman: Investigation, Writing – review & editing

Declaration of competing interest

There are no conflicts of interest.

Acknowledgments

Research reported in this publication was supported by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development of the National Institutes of Health under award number 1R15HD094281-01. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health. Related pilot funding was provided by Children and Screens: Institute of Digital Media and Child Development. We wish to thank our middle

References (87)

  • B. Klettke et al.

    Sexting prevalence and correlates: A systematic literature review

    Clinical Psychology Review

    (2014)
  • C. Lee et al.

    Prevalence and predictors of smartphone addiction proneness among Korean adolescents

    Children and Youth Services Review

    (2017)
  • U. Oberst et al.

    Negative consequences from heavy social networking in adolescents: The mediating role of fear of missing out

    Journal of Adolescence

    (2017)
  • A.K. Przybylski et al.

    Motivational, emotional, and behavioral correlates of fear of missing out

    Computers in Human Behavior

    (2013)
  • K. Subrahmanyam et al.

    Constructing sexuality and identity in an online teen chat room

    Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology

    (2004)
  • M.A. Throuvala et al.

    Motivational processes and dysfunctional mechanisms of social media use among adolescents: A qualitative focus group study

    Computers in Human Behavior

    (2019)
  • J.M. Vaterlaus et al.

    “Snapchat is more personal”: An exploratory study on Snapchat behaviors and young adult interpersonal relationships

    Computers in Human Behavior

    (2016)
  • M.L. Ybarra et al.

    Co-occurrence of Internet harassment and unwanted sexual solicitation victimization and perpetration: Associations with psychosocial indicators

    Journal of Adolescent Health

    (2007)
  • F.J. Zimmerman et al.

    Associations between media viewing and language development in children under age 2 years

    The Journal of Pediatrics

    (2007)
  • d boyd

    Why youth (heart) social network sites: The role of networked publics in teenage social list. MacArthur foundations series on digital learning: Youth, identity, and digital media

    (2007)
  • D.R. Anderson et al.

    Early childhood television viewing and adolescent behavior: The Recontact study

    Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development

    (2001)
  • M. Anderson et al.

    Teens, social media & technology 2018. Pew research center

  • I. Beyens et al.

    Parent–child conflict about children's tablet use: The role of parental mediation

    New Media & Society

    (2017)
  • T.M. Brinthaupt et al.

    Understanding early adolescent self and identity: Applications and interventions

    (2002)
  • U. Bronfenbrenner

    Ecological systems theory

    Annual Child Development

    (1989)
  • L. Charmaraman et al.

    Positive and negative associations with technology on adolescent mental health

  • L. Charmaraman et al.

    “Be careful who you friend”: Early adolescents' reports of safety, privacy, and family monitoring of Facebook use

    Journal of Youth Development: Bridging research and practice

    (2014)
  • Charmaraman, L., Grossman, J., & Moreno, M. (2018, September). Learning, Social Media, and Healthy Behaviors: Children...
  • Charmaraman, L., Jones, A., Merrin, G., Espelage, D. (2016, April).Predicting early adolescent onlinesexual harassment:...
  • J. Clement

    Number of U.S. Instagram users 2016, by age

  • K.M. Collier et al.

    Does parental mediation of media influence child outcomes? A meta-analysis on media time, aggression, substance use, and sexual behavior

    Developmental Psychology

    (2016)
  • S. Coughlan

    Safer Internet Day: Young ignore ‘social media age limit’

  • K. Davis et al.

    Introduction to special issue: Adolescent and emerging adult development in an age of social media

    Journal of Adolescent Research

    (2020)
  • K. Davis et al.

    Risk and protective factors associated with cyberbullying: Are relationships or rules more protective?, Learning

    Media and Technology

    (2016)
  • Digital Trends

    Kids & Tech: The evolution of today's digital natives

  • K.A. Dodge et al.

    Deviant peer influences in intervention and public policy for youth

    Social Policy Report

    (2006)
  • J. Dworkin et al.

    The state of family research and social media

    Journal of Family Theory and Review

    (2018)
  • A. Elliott et al.

    Mobile lives

    (2010)
  • N.B. Ellison et al.

    The benefits of Facebook “friends:” social capital and college students' use of online social network sites

    Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication

    (2007)
  • E.H. Erikson

    Identity: Youth and crisis

    (1968)
  • S. Erreygers et al.

    Nice or naughty? The role of emotions and digital media use in explaining adolescents' online prosocial and antisocial behavior

    Media Psychology

    (2017)
  • C.A. Evans et al.

    Only two hours?: A qualitative study of the challenges parents perceive in restricting child television time

    Journal of Family Issues

    (2011)
  • Cited by (17)

    • Social media and adolescent mental health

      2023, Encyclopedia of Child and Adolescent Health, First Edition
    • Associations between social media use and cognitive abilities: Results from a large-scale study of adolescents

      2022, Computers in Human Behavior
      Citation Excerpt :

      The effects found did not substantially outperform other known effects, such as sex- or age-differences (except a slightly higher value for practical numeracy on PSMU) if at all. To conclude, although past research found negative effects of social media use in early adolescents (<11 years of age; e.g., Charmaraman, Lynch, Richer, & Grossman, 2021) or children (e.g., 4 and 8 years; Skalická et al., 2019; for a review, see Wiederhold, 2019), cognitive abilities and skills of adolescents between 12 and 16 years of age do not seem to be overly affected by social media use. The authors received no financial support for the research.

    View all citing articles on Scopus
    View full text