ERIC Number: EJ1323784
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2022-Feb
Pages: 13
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0734-2829
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
Distress among Adolescents: An Exploration of Mattering, Social Media Addiction, and School Connectedness
Watson, Joshua C.; Prosek, Elizabeth A.; Giordano, Amanda L.
Journal of Psychoeducational Assessment, v40 n1 p95-107 Feb 2022
This study aimed to explore the effects of mattering, social media addiction, online activity, school connectedness, age, and gender on anxiety/depressive symptomatology among U.S. adolescents. A nationally representative Qualtrics panel sample consisting of 441 adolescents (M[subscript age] = 17.3; SD[subscript age] = 1.67) participated in this study. The results of a three-step hierarchical multiple regression analysis indicated that gender, social media usage, and mattering were most strongly associated with adolescent distress (i.e., anxiety/depressive symptom reporting). For the full predictive model with all six predictors added, mattering was found to significantly improve the prediction of adolescents' anxiety/depressive symptomatology, contributing an additional 12.8% of explained variance. For this sample, adolescent girls participants reported experiencing more anxiety/depressive symptoms. Furthermore, higher levels of social media usage, indicative of an addictive stage, and lower levels of mattering were related to more significant anxiety/depressive symptomatology. Overall, mattering was found to significantly correlate with adolescent distress, online activity, problematic social media usage, and school connectedness, evidencing its importance in addressing adolescent mental health.
Descriptors: Adolescents, Stress Variables, Age Differences, Gender Differences, Social Media, Addictive Behavior, Value Judgment, Self Concept, Student School Relationship, Anxiety, Depression (Psychology), Correlation, Predictor Variables, Mental Health, Incidence, Attitudes
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A