Types of Social Media Use: Effects on Well-Being and Life Satisfaction in Adolescents

Social media is a prevalent part of most adolescents every day, influencing their well-being and life satisfaction. Research focusing on this relationship has started to look at varying types of use and how that contributes to the relationship of use and well-being/life satisfaction. Given that different uses can have positive and negative effects on the psychopathology of adolescents, the present study aims to focus on this relationship using carrying aspects of social media as moderators, public posting and private messaging. Data analyses from the Study of Toddler to Teenager Anxiety and Resiliency (STTAR) were conducted using questionnaires. The interaction of messaging and use predicting life satisfaction was found to be significant. This means that higher amount of use predicted significantly lower life satisfaction for those with lower messaging. Additionally, there was a marginally significant interaction between use and public posting where higher amount of use predicted marginally significant lower well-being for those with higher public posting. This study suggests that varying types of social media use affect well-being and life satisfaction in differing ways.