Department of Psychology, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, Camden, NJ, 08102, USA.
Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA.
Sci Rep. 2023 Nov 22;13(1):20501. doi: 10.1038/s41598-023-46040-z.
Evidence on the harms and benefits of social media use is mixed, in part because the effects of social media on well-being depend on a variety of individual difference moderators. Here, we explored potential neural moderators of the link between time spent on social media and subsequent negative affect. We specifically focused on the strength of correlation among brain regions within the frontoparietal system, previously associated with the top-down cognitive control of attention and emotion. Participants (N = 54) underwent a resting state functional magnetic resonance imaging scan. Participants then completed 28 days of ecological momentary assessment and answered questions about social media use and negative affect, twice a day. Participants who spent more than their typical amount of time on social media since the previous time point reported feeling more negative at the present moment. This within-person temporal association between social media use and negative affect was mainly driven by individuals with lower resting state functional connectivity within the frontoparietal system. By contrast, time spent on social media did not predict subsequent affect for individuals with higher frontoparietal functional connectivity. Our results highlight the moderating role of individual functional neural connectivity in the relationship between social media and affect.
社交媒体使用的危害和益处的证据是混杂的，部分原因是社交媒体对幸福感的影响取决于各种个体差异的调节因素。在这里，我们探讨了社交媒体使用时间与随后的负面情绪之间关联的潜在神经调节因素。我们特别关注额顶系统内脑区之间的相关强度，这些脑区先前与注意力和情绪的自上而下的认知控制有关。参与者（N=54）接受了静息状态功能磁共振成像扫描。然后，参与者完成了 28 天的生态瞬时评估，并每天两次回答关于社交媒体使用和负面情绪的问题。与前一个时间点相比，花费超过典型时间在社交媒体上的参与者报告说此刻感觉更消极。社交媒体使用和负面情绪之间的这种个体内时间关联主要是由额顶系统内静息状态功能连接性较低的个体驱动的。相比之下，对于额顶系统功能连接性较高的个体，社交媒体使用时间并不预测随后的情绪。我们的结果强调了个体功能神经连接在社交媒体和情绪之间关系中的调节作用。
