1
Resources Selection: Social Media’s Impact on Adolescent Mental Health
Student’s Name
Institutional Affiliation
Course Code & Title
Professor’s Name
Date
Introduction
The influence of social media on the mental health of adolescents became a priority domain of investigation in light of the rapid growth in anxiety and depression problems associated with digital exposure. The capstone project will discuss the mechanism through which the use of social media influences adolescents due to vulnerability in developing disorders in mental health. It will particularly consider how constant exposure to social media is resulting in online comparisons, cyberbullying, and upkeep pressures that result in mental health problems. These mechanisms have also been discussed to inform future interventions and policy actions to safeguard adolescent mental health.
Chosen Research Methodology
When investigating the influence of social media on adolescent mental health, the most apt methodology will be a mixed-methods approach. This will be a qualitative and quantitative approach to explain the problem deeply. The quantitative data, to be collected from surveys or self-reports, will indicate the prevalence of anxiety and depression among adolescents because of the use of social media. In contrast, qualitative data, solicited through interviews or focus groups, explain individual experiences and nuances of how social media influences mental health.
Quantitative approaches allow the examination of such patterns; for example, time spent on social media use is associated with mental health outcomes. For instance, Boer et al. (2021) drew data from longitudinal surveys to examine the directionality and mediating processes of the intensity of the use of social media and its resultant influence on adolescent mental health. The advantages of using surveys are that they are low-cost and can be distributed among large populations, helping to give a more comprehensive overview of the problem. Qualitative methods, on the other hand, research personal experiences: what adolescents go through emotionally and psychologically due to interactions with social media. This is reasonable ground to discover the hidden factors, such as peer pressure that might be necessary for mental health but cannot easily be treated quantitatively. Therefore, combining both methods will make the proposed research quantify the prevalence of social media-related mental health issues and contextualize them in real-life experiences.
Sources and Analysis of Methodologies
1. Boer et al. (2021)
Methods: The present study uses a longitudinal survey design to examine the associations between the intensity of social media use and problematic social media use and adolescents’ mental health, considering the directionality of associations and the mediating processes.
Strengths: The longitudinal design of the study allowed monitoring of how changes in social media use and mental health outcomes will change over time. This is an effective way to prove causality rather than just correlation. The mediating processes also received attention in the study for a finer-grained analysis of how social media impacts mental health.
Limitations: One might argue that one limitation is that the data in this study were self-reported; this introduces some kind of bias in the sense that adolescents may underreport or over-report their use of social media or their status regarding mental health. Another limitation is that the study identifies several correlations but may need to include the participants’ meaningful, deep-seated emotional experiences, which could have been recognized with a qualitative approach.
2. Coyne et al. (2020)
Methodology: Another comparable longitudinal process involved studying the mental health test impact of the use of social media over eight years. Measurement of time spent on social media and its effects on symptoms of depression and anxiety was by self-report.
Strengths: This is one of the few studies that extends the period for data collection, and as such, it will be very important in identifying long-term trends and impacts. It then gives an overview of how, over time, the cumulative influence of using social media for a long period influences mental health; hence, it is one of the more robust studies in this field.
Limitations: Similar to Boer et al. (2021), the present study also needs to improve on relying on self-reported data, which carries the possibility of misreporting. The second point is that this research emphasizes how much time people spend using social media; the type of social media activities performed gets scant depth, for example, passive scrolling versus active posting.
3. Karim et al. (2020)
Methodology: A systematic review of multiple studies on social media usage and mental health-related outcomes among adolescents provides a bird’ s-eye overview of the total amount of evidence on the subject under consideration.
Strengths: A systematic review collates and synthesizes large volumes of research. It gives an overall broader view of the topic at hand. Therefore, it could consistently outline patterns across studies and also highlight literature gaps.
Weaknesses: The study’s inability to introduce new data or address recent trends is considered a weakness because this work totally relies on already published studies. Another flaw with the systematic review is that it may include publication bias. The probability of studies getting published in the first place may be biased by spectacular results, which may distort findings.
4. O’Reilly (2020)
Methodology: This approach will be mixed-method in nature. O’Reilly will examine the positive and negative ways social media can influence adolescent mental health by integrating quantitative data from a survey with qualitative insights from interviews.
Strengths: The strengths are that the mixed-methods design develops a more holistic exploration of the issue, capturing both the breadth and depth of social media’s impact on mental health. By combining numerical data with personal accounts, it develops an even better understanding of the complexities.
Limitation: The number of participants in the qualitative part of the study is limited to generalize the findings. Doing both methods effectively is resource-intensive and time-consuming, which thus limits the scope of the research.
5. Valkenburg et al. (2022)
Methodology: The umbrella review will critically appraise the evidence for the association between social media use and adolescent mental health through several meta-analyses and systematic reviews of such studies. The focus is synthesizing overarching themes and trends in the literature.
Strengths: The strengths are that umbrella reviews help summarize the best available evidence to quickly identify general trends and points of consensus. This approach is seminal to informing policymakers and practitioners about established findings.
Limitations: Limitations include that the review is only as good as the meta-analyses reviewed; thus, any gaps or weaknesses in the original studies are carried into the umbrella review. Also, similar to systematic reviews, umbrella reviews can be subject to publication bias.
Literature Synthesis
Literature shows that the mental impacts of adolescents’ social media use are simultaneously optimistic and damaging; the overwhelming focus, however, is on negative consequences related to increased anxiety and depression. Several works, including Boer et al. (2021) and Coyne et al. (2020), presented robust longitudinal findings showing that extended exposure to social media is associated with unfavorable mental health outcomes. These studies make a blanket approximation, with little attention to nuancing this effect: how much active and passive social media use feeds into the problems. Qualitative insights, such as O’Reilly’s 2020, go even further in bringing out the personal and subjective experience among adolescents, describing in detail how peer pressure, cyberbullying, and FOMO feed into these mental health issues. Qualitative data complement these by providing a more complete view of the problem, filling in the gaps left by quantitative studies.
Systematic and umbrella reviews by Karim et al. 2020 and Valkenburg et al. 2022 have equally echoed the need to synthesize findings to develop a broader understanding. They further propose other research on how social media use affects mental health, agreeing with the identified research problem in the capstone project.
Conclusion
Regarding this issue, a mixed-method approach will be the best for the current study because it allows a broad perception of how the use of social media is related to adolescent mental health and profound insights into personal experiences that people have. It shall be achieved by exploring with both quantitative and qualitative methods of research precisely how social media is taking part in anxiety and depression among adolescents. The literature supports this comprehensive approach as necessary since nuanced exploration may reveal ways in which social media influences mental health and through which interventions can be designed to ameliorate these effects.
References
Boer, M., Stevens, G. W., Finkenauer, C., de Looze, M. E., & van den Eijnden, R. J. (2021). Social media use intensity, social media use problems, and mental health among adolescents: Investigating directionality and mediating processes. Computers in Human Behavior, 116, 106645. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0747563220303927
Coyne, S. M., Rogers, A. A., Zurcher, J. D., Stockdale, L., & Booth, M. (2020). Does time spent using social media impact mental health?: An eight year longitudinal study. Computers in human behavior, 104, 106160. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0747563219303723
Karim, F., Oyewande, A. A., Abdalla, L. F., Ehsanullah, R. C., & Khan, S. (2020). Social media use and its connection to mental health: a systematic review. Cureus, 12(6). https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7364393/
O’reilly, M. (2020). Social media and adolescent mental health: the good, the bad and the ugly. Journal of Mental Health, 29(2), 200-206. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09638237.2020.1714007
Valkenburg, P. M., Meier, A., & Beyens, I. (2022). Social media use and its impact on adolescent mental health: An umbrella review of the evidence. Current opinion in psychology, 44, 58-68. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352250X21001500
- WE OFFER THE BEST CUSTOM PAPER WRITING SERVICES. WE HAVE DONE THIS QUESTION BEFORE, WE CAN ALSO DO IT FOR YOU.
- Assignment status: Already Solved By Our Experts
- (USA, AUS, UK & CA PhD. Writers)
- CLICK HERE TO GET A PROFESSIONAL WRITER TO WORK ON THIS PAPER AND OTHER SIMILAR PAPERS, GET A NON PLAGIARIZED PAPER FROM OUR EXPERTS
QUALITY: 100% ORIGINAL PAPER – NO ChatGPT.NO PLAGIARISM – CUSTOM PAPER
Looking for unparalleled custom paper writing services? Our team of experienced professionals at AcademicWritersBay.com is here to provide you with top-notch assistance that caters to your unique needs.
We understand the importance of producing original, high-quality papers that reflect your personal voice and meet the rigorous standards of academia. That’s why we assure you that our work is completely plagiarism-free—we craft bespoke solutions tailored exclusively for you.
Why Choose AcademicWritersBay.com?
- Our papers are 100% original, custom-written from scratch.
- We’re here to support you around the clock, any day of the year.
- You’ll find our prices competitive and reasonable.
- We handle papers across all subjects, regardless of urgency or difficulty.
- Need a paper urgently? We can deliver within 6 hours!
- Relax with our on-time delivery commitment.
- We offer money-back and privacy guarantees to ensure your satisfaction and confidentiality.
- Benefit from unlimited amendments upon request to get the paper you envisioned.
- We pledge our dedication to meeting your expectations and achieving the grade you deserve.
Our Process: Getting started with us is as simple as can be. Here’s how to do it:
- Click on the “Place Your Order” tab at the top or the “Order Now” button at the bottom. You’ll be directed to our order form.
- Provide the specifics of your paper in the “PAPER DETAILS” section.
- Select your academic level, the deadline, and the required number of pages.
- Click on “CREATE ACCOUNT & SIGN IN” to provide your registration details, then “PROCEED TO CHECKOUT.”
- Follow the simple payment instructions and soon, our writers will be hard at work on your paper.
AcademicWritersBay.com is dedicated to expediting the writing process without compromising on quality. Our roster of writers boasts individuals with advanced degrees—Masters and PhDs—in a myriad of disciplines, ensuring that no matter the complexity or field of your assignment, we have the expertise to tackle it with finesse. Our quick turnover doesn’t mean rushed work; it means efficiency and priority handling, ensuring your deadlines are met with the excellence your academics demand.
