19-20 June, 2024 | Tokyo, Japan
Ernesto Magallon Neri
University of Barcelona, Spain
Ernesto Magallon Neri is a PhD Prof. from University of Barcelona and clinical researcher at the Institute of Neurosciences UB. He is a member of GEIMAC (2021SGR01071) research group, and member of the executive committee of the SEAEP (Sociedad Española para el Avance de la Evaluación Psicológica). He has published diverse papers in scientific journals and has been serving as a revisor and editorial board member from some journals with impact factor JCR.
Objective: To examine the effect of patterns of social media on psychopathological symptoms in a sample of Colombian adolescents and emerging adults. Method: 600 adolescents and emergent adults (females = 363) between 12 and 25 years of age (M = 17.58; SD = 3.28) enrolled in educational institutions participated. Patterns of social network use were assessed using the MULTICAGE-TIC social media subscale, and psychopathological symptoms were assessed using the SA-45 Symptom Assessment Questionnaire.
Results: ANOVA analysis revealed significant differences (p = <.001) between patterns of social network use for general distress (F = 43.303) and all psychopathological symptoms: a) hostility (F = 19.866), somatisation (F = 18.650), depression (F = 35. 103), obsessive-compulsive (F = 36.198), anxiety (F = 33.338), interpersonal sensitivity (F = 43.048), phobic anxiety (F = 20.316), paranoid ideation (F = 45.064), psychoticism (F = 26.743). All effect sizes were moderate (ω2 = .061 - .131) except for somatisation (ω2 = .57). Post hoc analysis shows that general distress and all psychopathological symptoms statistically differ between the normative and problematic social media use groups.
Discussion and conclusion: Adolescents and emerging adults with risky and problematic patterns of social media use show higher levels of general distress and symptoms of psychopathology in all categories. These findings provide evidence for the link between problematic social media use and mental health problems in adolescents and emerging adults and for the importance of identifying the transdiagnostic mechanisms that explain this relationship.