Olivia G. Dick’s research while affiliated with Western Kentucky University and other places

Time spent on social media has been an inconsistent predictor of mental health outcomes in young people. However, most studies have assessed social media use globally, with few investigations of the relative influence of specific social media platforms, which may partially account for mixed findings. Furthermore, studies often focus on a single mental health outcome, limiting understanding of how social media relates to psychological well-being. The purpose of the current study was to examine associations between time spent on multiple popular social media platforms and a variety of mental health-related outcomes in a sample of young adults. Participants included 575 young adults who completed an online survey assessing self-reported time spent on Twitter, TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, Reddit, Snapchat, and Facebook as well as depression, anxiety, PTSD, loneliness, friend support, and self-esteem. Path analyses showed that in the overall sample, greater use of Tiktok and YouTube were consistently associated with more mental health issues, whereas greater use of Snapchat was associated with fewer mental health issues. Models examining results for men and women separately suggested that use of Tiktok was more relevant in women’s mental health, whereas use of Reddit was more relevant in men’s mental health. Findings highlight that associations are not uniform across social media platforms. More research is needed that compares individual platforms and their relationship to psychological well-being as well as future studies examining how gender impacts findings.

Previous studies have demonstrated a link between PTSD and smartphone addiction; however, few studies have examined what may account for this relationship. The current study sought to examine whether problem-focused, emotion-focused, and avoidance-focused coping impacts this relationship among young adults. The study consisted of 538 young adults with potential trauma exposure who completed an online survey assessing PTSD symptoms, coping strategies, and problematic smartphone use. PTSD was associated with problematic smartphone use and all styles of coping, while problematic smartphone use was associated with avoidance coping and emotion-focused coping. Analyses of indirect effects demonstrated that PTSD was indirectly associated with problematic smartphone use via avoidance coping but not problem-focused or emotion-focused coping. Findings indicate that avoidance may play an important role in promoting problematic smartphone use among individuals with trauma-related distress and suggest that approaches aimed at targeting avoidance may be beneficial to both PTSD symptoms and problematic smartphone use.