Journal of Youth and Adolescence最新文献

Cyberbullying involves aggressive behaviors or threats through digital platforms. Youth who are victims of cyberbullying are at risk for a wide range of emotional and behavioral problems. Given the growing role of social media in adolescent life, understanding its relation to cyberbullying is crucial for prevention and policy. Although numerous studies suggest that social media use predicts cyberbullying victimization, methodological shortcomings limit their ability to infer the etiological role of social media use in cyberbullying victimization at the individual level-an issue this study addresses. A sample from two birth cohorts of children (n = 781, 53.4% girls) in Trondheim, Norway, was assessed biennially through interviews and questionnaires from age 12 to 18. Social media use and cyberbullying were related at the between-person level (i.e., those who use social media more than others were more likely to experience cyberbullying than others). However, within-person increases in self- or other-oriented social media use did not predict future within-person changes in cyberbullying victimization. The vast majority of former studies, which have not explored within-person changes, may have overestimated and overinterpreted the role of social media use in cyberbullying victimization. Efforts to reduce cyberbullying victimization by decreasing individual social media use may have limited effectiveness.

Although many studies have indicated that problematic smartphone use and depressive symptoms are closely associated and frequently co-occur in adolescence, little is known about their heterogeneous co-occurrence profiles and how these profiles evolve over time. Using person-centered approaches (LPA and RT-LTA), this study identified the co-occurrence patterns of problematic smartphone use and depressive symptoms, examined their transitions, and investigated the roles of social support and self-control on transitions. A total of 8969 Chinese adolescents (49.3% girls; T1: M_age = 12.86, SD = 0.31) participated in the study over a one-year period with three follow-up assessments. Five co-occurrence profiles consistently emerged: low symptoms, moderate co-occurrence, PSU-dominant, depression-dominant, and high co-occurrence. The low symptoms group showed the highest stability, whereas the PSU-dominant group showed the most transitions. Boys, as well as adolescents with higher levels of social support and self-control, showed a greater likelihood of symptom improvement and a reduced risk of symptom worsening over time, with the protective roles of self-control and social support being stronger among adolescents with less severe symptoms. These findings reveal the heterogeneous manifestations in the co-occurrence of problematic smartphone use and depressive symptoms, their longitudinal transitions and the conditional effects of protective factors among adolescents.

During the college transition, many students undergo rapid changes in the frequency and patterns of social media use, while also facing sudden challenges in adapting to the new interpersonal environment. However, it remains unclear how social media use intensity and social media use problems are temporally related to interpersonal adaptation during this important stage of development. This study conducted a 30-day intensive longitudinal design to explore the fine-grained temporal relationships between social media use intensity, social media use problems, and interpersonal adaptation, as well as the intensive mediating role of upward social comparison during the first month of the college transition. The sample comprised 317 first-year college students in China (71.8% female; M_age = 18.16 years, SD = 0.65). Participants completed daily reports over a 30-day intensive tracking period, with data collected each evening between 8:30 and 9:00 PM. Multilevel residual dynamic structural equation modeling revealed that both social media use intensity and social media use problems on the previous day significantly, negatively predicted interpersonal adaptation on the following day during the college transition. Additionally, upward social comparison played an intensive mediating role in the temporal relationship between social media use problems and interpersonal adaptation. These findings offer important insights into how social media use at a fine-grained temporal level influences interpersonal adaptation during the college transition, informing strategies to support first-year students' adjustment.