Search results

With the growing attention paid to the role of Fear of Missing Out (FoMO) as a mediator, linking deficits in psychological needs to Problematic Internet Use (PIU), this study explored the role of FoMO in partially explaining the connection between parent–child communication and the child's PIU. Data were gathered from 270 participants of whom 45.6% 13- to 15-year-old youth (middle school students), and 54.5% 15.5- to 18-year-old adolescents (high school students). Path analysis results have corroborated the main research hypothesis, according to which positive communication activities of parents, such as listening to their children, trying to understand how they feel and what they think, and creating a positive and supportive atmosphere for discussions, can reduce FoMO experiences among adolescents, which in turn might decrease their PIU. Limitations, conclusions, and directions for further research are discussed.

ObjectivesThis repeated cross-sectional study aimed to (a) report trends in adolescents' perceived family, friend, classmate, and teacher support, (b) estimate the extent to which each source of support related to life satisfaction across space and time, and (c) ascertain whether sociodemographic factors moderated the relationship in question.MethodsWe relied on data pertaining to the 2013/14, 2017/18, and 2021/22 waves of the Health Behaviour in School-aged Children study. The examined sample covered 44 countries and regions (n = 716,083; MAGE = 13.6; SDAGE = 1.64; 50.7% female).ResultsThe level of all sources of perceived social support slightly decreased over the examined period (all ω2 < .01). Family support involved the largest association with life satisfaction (β = 0.16); friend support, the lowest one (β = 0.03). These associations varied only tenuously across space and time. Sociodemographic factors moderated the link between perceived social support and life satisfaction to a negligible-to-weak extent.ConclusionLevels of perceived social support and their associations with life satisfaction subtly changed. Future research may attempt to pinpoint the macrosocial levers of these temporal dynamics.

ObjectivesSocial media has become integrated into adolescents' lives and influences body image perceptions. Our study examined four patterns of social media use (SMU): non-active, active, intensive, and problematic. We hypothesised that intensive SMU and problematic SMU would be associated with negative body image (negative subjective body weight) and over/underestimated body weight congruence, compared to non-active and active SMU. In addition, we expect these associations to be stronger for girls.MethodsData from 190,892 respondents aged 11, 13, and 15 from 42 countries involved in the Health Behaviour in School-aged Children study were analysed.ResultsFindings revealed higher rates of intensive or problematic SMU among adolescents who perceived themselves as too fat or too thin. Two-level regression analyses showed intensive and problematic SMU as more likely to perceive themselves as too fat or too thin than active users. The association was significant among intensive and problematic girl social media users, whereas, among boys, the relationship was only significant for problematic users.ConclusionOur findings highlight the importance of assessing SMU patterns to evaluate associations with body image.

Funding: (1) the Department of Interdisciplinary Social Science, Utrecht University, The Netherlands; (2) the UK Medical Research Council (MC_UU_12017/12); (3) the Chief Scientist Office, Scottish Government (SPHSU12); (4) the European Regional Development Fund-Project "Effective Use of Social Research Studies for Practice" (CZ.02.1.01/0.0/0.0/16_025/0007294); (5) Institute of Mother and Child Foundation, Warsaw,Poland; and (6) Ministry of Health, Slovenia. This work was also supported by the MRC Mental Health Data Pathfinder Award (reference MC_PC_17217). ; Purpose: This study examined (1) whether intense and problematic social media use (SMU) were independently associated with adolescent well-being; (2) whether these associations varied by the country-level prevalence of intense and problematic SMU; and (3) whether differences in the country-level prevalence of intense and problematic SMU were related to differences in mobile Internet access. Methods: Individual-level data came from 154,981 adolescents (meanage = 13.5) from 29 countries that participated in the 2017/2018 Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) survey. Intense SMU was measured by the time spent on social media, whereas problematic SMU was defined by symptoms of addiction to social media. Mental (life satisfaction and psychological complaints), school (school satisfaction and perceived school pressure), and social (family support and friend support) well-being were assessed. Country-level data came from aggregated individual-level data and data from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) on Internet access. Results: Two-level regression analyses indicated that in countries with a lower prevalence of intense SMU, intense users reported lower levels of life satisfaction and family support and more psychological complaints than nonintense users. In contrast, in countries with a higher prevalence of intense SMU, intense users reported higher levels of family support and life satisfaction than nonintense users, and similar levels of psychological complaints. In all countries, intense users reported more friend support than nonintense users. The findings regarding problematic SMU were more consistent: In all countries, problematic users reported lower well-being on all domains than nonproblematic users. Observed differences in country-level prevalence rates of intense and problematic SMU could not be explained by mobile Internet access. Conclusions: Adolescents reporting problematic SMU are particularly at risk of lower well-being. In many countries, intense SMU may be a normative adolescent behavior that contributes positively to specific domains of their well-being. ; Publisher PDF ; Peer reviewed

Purpose: Social media use (SMU) has become an intrinsic part of adolescent life. Negative consequences of SMU for adolescent health could include exposures to online forms of aggression. We explored age, gender, and cross-national differences in adolescents engagement in SMU, then relationships between SMU and victimization and the perpetration of cyber-bullying. Methods: We used data on young people aged 11-15 years (weighted n = 180,919 in 42 countries) who participated in the 2017-2018 Health Behaviour in School-aged Children study to describe engagement in the three types of SMU (intense, problematic, and talking with strangers online) by age and gender and then in the perpetration and victimization of cyber-bullying. Relationships between SMU and cyber-bullying outcomes were estimated using Poisson regression (weighted n = 166,647 from 42 countries). Results: Variations in SMU and cyber-bullying follow developmental and gender-based patterns across countries. In pooled analyses, engagement in SMU related to cyber-bullying victimization (adjusted relative risks = 1.14 [95% confidence interval (CI): 1.10-1.19] to 1.48 [95% CI: 1.42-1.55]) and perpetration (adjusted relative risk = 1.31 [95% CI: 1.26-1.36] to 1.84 [95% CI: 1.74-1.95]). These associations were stronger for cyber-perpetration versus cyber-victimization and for girls versus boys. Problematic SMU was most strongly and consistently associated with cyber-bullying, both for victimization and perpetration. Stratified analyses showed that SMU related to cyber-victimization in 19%-45% of countries and to cyber-perpetration in 38%-86% of countries. Conclusions: Accessibility to social media and its pervasive use has led to new opportunities for online aggression. The time adolescents spend on social media, engage in problematic use, and talk to strangers online each relate to cyber-bullying and merit public health intervention. Problematic use of social media poses the strongest and most consistent risk. (C) 2020 Published by Elsevier Inc. on behalf of Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine. ; Funding Agencies|Public Health Agency of Canada; Canadian Institutes of Health ResearchCanadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) [MOP341188]; Ministry of Health, Office of the Director, Israel; Ministry of Health, Wellbeing, and Sports, the NetherlandsNetherlands Government; Warsaw University, Poland; Italian Ministry of Health/Centre for Disease Prevention and ControlMinistry of Health, Italy; Department of Health, Ireland; Public Health Agency of Sweden; Institute of Mother and Child