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. 2018 Mar 20;18(1):321.
doi: 10.1186/s12889-018-5220-4.

Gender differences in the associations between age trends of social media interaction and well-being among 10-15 year olds in the UK

Cara L Booker  1 , Yvonne J Kelly  2 , Amanda Sacker  2
Affiliations

Gender differences in the associations between age trends of social media interaction and well-being among 10-15 year olds in the UK

Cara L Booker et al. BMC Public Health. .

Abstract

Background: Adolescents are among the highest consumers of social media while research has shown that their well-being decreases with age. The temporal relationship between social media interaction and well-being is not well established. The aim of this study was to examine whether the changes in social media interaction and two well-being measures are related across ages using parallel growth models.

Methods: Data come from five waves of the youth questionnaire, 10-15 years, of the Understanding Society, the UK Household Longitudinal Study (pooled n = 9859). Social media interaction was assessed through daily frequency of chatting on social websites. Well-being was measured by happiness with six domains of life and the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire.

Results: Findings suggest gender differences in the relationship between interacting on social media and well-being. There were significant correlations between interacting on social media and well-being intercepts and between social media interaction and well-being slopes among females. Additionally higher social media interaction at age 10 was associated with declines in well-being thereafter for females, but not for males. Results were similar for both measures of well-being.

Conclusions: High levels of social media interaction in early adolescence have implications for well-being in later adolescence, particularly for females. The lack of an association among males suggests other factors might be associated with their reduction in well-being with age. These findings contribute to the debate on causality and may inform future policy and interventions.

Keywords: Adolescents; Gender; Growth curve modelling; Longitudinal studies; Social media interaction; Well-being.

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Conflict of interest statement

Ethics approval and consent to participate

Ethical approval was obtained from the university ethics committee and the National Research Ethics Service. Adults 16 and older provided written consent to participate. For adolescents aged 10-15, parental or responsible adult verbal consent was required and obtained for participation.

Consent for publication

Not applicable.

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

Publisher’s Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Conceptual parallel process growth model. Note SMI = Social Media Interaction; Double-headed arrows indicate correlations; Single-headed arrows indicate regression paths. Parameter A = correlation between social media interaction and well-being intercepts; Parameter B = correlation between social media interaction and well-being slopes; Parameter C = social media interaction slope regressed on social media interaction intercept; Parameter D = Well-being slope regressed on well-being intercept; Parameter E = well-being slope regressed on social media interaction intercept; Parameter F = social media interaction slope regressed on well-being intercept
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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