Problematic Social Media Use in Sexual and Gender Minority Young Adults: Observational Study
Vogel EA, Ramo DE, Prochaska JJ, Meacham MC, Layton JF, Humfleet GL
JMIR mental health · 16 citations
How it was studied
- Design
- Cross-sectional study (classified by our AI screen)
- Studied in
- People
- Main outcome
- Health markers and function
Who paid for it
- Funding
- Independent funding
- Government
- Tobacco-Related Disease Research Program
- Government
- National Institutes of Health
- Government
- National Institute on Drug Abuse
- Government
- National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities
- Government
- NIDA NIH HHS
- Government
- NIMHD NIH HHS
- Grants
- Tobacco-Related Disease Research Program (28FT-0015); National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (# R21 MD011765); National Institute on Drug Abuse (K01 DA046697); National Institutes of Health (K01 DA046697)
Based on 6 listed funder(s).
Publication
- Published
- 2021-05-28 · JMIR Ment Health · vol. 8 · issue 5 · p. e23688
- Publisher
- JMIR Publications
- Cited
- 36 citations · more than 94% of similar papers · 4.3× the field average
- Impact
- Top 10% most cited in its field
- References
- 43 works
- Access
- Open access (journal) · CC-BY
- Research areas
- LGBTQ Health, Identity, and Policy · Sexuality, Behavior, and Technology · Impact of Technology on Adolescents
- Keywords
- sexual and gender minority young adults, minority stress, self-stigma, emotional support, depressive symptoms, Facebook addiction, smoking cessation interventions, time spent on social media, gender identity, sexual identity
6 authors
From US
- Erin A. Vogel · correspondingStanford University
- Danielle E. RamoUniversity of California, San Francisco; HopeLab
- Judith J. ProchaskaStanford University
- Meredith C. MeachamUniversity of California, San Francisco
- John F. LaytonUniversity of California, San Francisco
- Gary L. HumfleetUniversity of California, San Francisco
Abstract
Background
Sexual and gender minority (SGM) individuals experience minority stress, especially when they lack social support. SGM young adults may turn to social media in search of a supportive community; however, social media use can become problematic when it interferes with functioning. Problematic social media use may be associated with experiences of minority stress among SGM young adults.
Objective
The objective of this study is to examine the associations among social media use, SGM-related internalized stigma, emotional social support, and depressive symptoms in SGM young adults.
Methods
Participants were SGM young adults who were regular (≥4 days per week) social media users (N=302) and had enrolled in Facebook smoking cessation interventions. As part of a baseline assessment, participants self-reported problematic social media use (characterized by salience, tolerance, and withdrawal-like experiences; adapted from the Facebook Addiction Scale), hours of social media use per week, internalized SGM stigma, perceived emotional social support, and depressive symptoms. Pearson correlations tested bivariate associations among problematic social media use, hours of social media use, internalized SGM stigma, perceived emotional social support, and depressive symptoms. Multiple linear regression examined the associations between the aforementioned variables and problematic social media use and was adjusted for gender identity.
Results
A total of 302 SGM young adults were included in the analyses (assigned female at birth: 218/302, 72.2%; non-Hispanic White: 188/302, 62.3%; age: mean 21.9 years, SD 2.2 years). The sexual identity composition of the sample was 59.3% (179/302) bisexual and/or pansexual, 17.2% (52/302) gay, 16.9% (51/302) lesbian, and 6.6% (20/302) other. The gender identity composition of the sample was 61.3% (185/302) cisgender; 24.2% (73/302) genderqueer, fluid, nonbinary, or other; and 14.6% (44/302) transgender. Problematic social media use averaged 2.53 (SD 0.94) on a 5-point scale, with a median of 17 hours of social media use per week (approximately 2.5 h per day). Participants with greater problematic social media use had greater internalized SGM stigma (r=0.22; P<.001) and depressive symptoms (r=0.22; P<.001) and lower perceived emotional social support (r=-0.15; P=.007). Greater internalized SGM stigma remained was significantly associated with greater problematic social media use after accounting for the time spent on social media and other correlates (P<.001). In addition, participants with greater depressive symptoms had marginally greater problematic social media use (P=.05). In sum, signs of problematic social media use were more likely to occur among SGM young adults who had internalized SGM stigma and depressive symptoms.
Conclusions
Taken together, problematic social media use among SGM young adults was associated with negative psychological experiences, including internalized stigma, low social support, and depressive symptoms. SGM young adults experiencing minority stress may be at risk for problematic social media use.
Abstract via Europe PMC. Copyright remains with the authors or publisher (CC BY).
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