Addictive social media use and depressive symptoms in adolescents. Results from a cross-sectional study of 513 German high-school students.

Autor/inn/en	Leo, Katharina; Arnold, Julia; Kewitz, Sonja; Lindenberg, Katajun
Titel	Addictive social media use and depressive symptoms in adolescents. Results from a cross-sectional study of 513 German high-school students. Gefälligkeitsübersetzung: Süchtige Nutzung sozialer Medien und depressive Symptome bei Jugendlichen. Ergebnisse einer Querschnittsstudie von 513 deutschen Sekundarschülerinnen und -schülern.
Quelle	In: Kindheit und Entwicklung, 32 (2023) 4, S. 228-240Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext Link als defekt meldenVerfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	online; gedruckt; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	0942-5403; 2190-6246
DOI	10.1026/0942-5403/a000427
Schlagwörter	Depression; Selbstbeurteilung; Stimmung (Psy); Kind; Soziale Software; Psychopathologie; Sucht; Zeit; Vernetzung; Internet; Jugendlicher; Online
Abstract	Theoretical Background: The use of social media has become an integral part of the lives of young people. Negative effects on mental health have been reported previously; however, it remained unclear whether the amount of time spent with social media use per se or its usage patterns lead to possible impairments. Addictive use is characterized by compulsive usage patterns in contrast to a flexible use. Objective: The present work investigated the associations between the amount of time spent with social media, the usage pattern (i. e., addictive use vs. flexible use), and the occurrence of depressive symptoms. Method: Cross-sectional data based on the self-reports of 513 high-school students aged 11 - 19 (M = 12.91, SD = 1.02) from 39 classes (18 schools) in Baden-Wuerttemberg, Germany, are presented. Hierarchically linear models accounted for the nested structure and were applied to investigate the predictive significance of time spent with social media and addictive use of social media on depressive symptoms. Results: Addictive use of social media could be identified as a significant predictor of depressive symptoms and explained 17 % of variance in depressive symptoms in the present model. Time spent with social media use did not explain a significant share of variance in depressive symptoms, after controlling for addictive social media use. Discussion and Conclusion: These findings highlight that it is not the time spent on social media per se, but the addictive usage patterns that explain a significant share of depressive symptoms in adolescents. Although a reciprocal or circular association between both disorders can be assumed, addictive usage patterns of social media may represent a potential risk to adolescents' mental health. To prevent negative consequences of social media use, interventions should focus on the particular functionality of social media use. (ZPID).
Erfasst von	Leibniz-Institut für Psychologie, Trier
Update	2024/1