Maheux Anne J, Burnell Kaitlyn, Maza Maria T, Fox Kara A, Telzer Eva H, Prinstein Mitchell J
Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA.
Winston National Center on Technology Use, Brain, and Psychological Development, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA.
J Child Psychol Psychiatry. 2025 Apr;66(4):440-459. doi: 10.1111/jcpp.14085. Epub 2024 Dec 23.
Social media have drastically changed the context of adolescent development. To date, the majority of research investigating the effects of these changes has measured time spent on social media, yielding inconclusive results-likely because this approach conceptualizes social media as a monolith. Social media experiences are complex and diverse, as are adolescents themselves. Emerging research has identified several specific components of social media that have varied associations with adolescent mental health, as well as individual difference factors that may alter these associations across adolescents. In this annual research review, we synthesize evidence regarding heterogeneity in social media effects related to (a) specific components of social media and (b) adolescents' individual differences regarding social media use and effects. We first focus on the specific social media components-content, features, and functions-that may be especially relevant for adolescent development. These include functions designed to foster relationships and social connections (e.g., social media feeds, 'friends'), hateful content, notifications, risky content, and algorithmically curated content, among others. Next, we provide an overview of for whom these effects may matter most. We review research on individual differences that may explain some heterogeneity in social media effects, including gender/sex, age, marginalized status, neurobiological and social sensitivities, and other preexisting vulnerabilities to mental health concerns. The nascent work in these areas suggests many specific constructs and considerations that could drive future research examining nuanced and precise questions that go beyond 'screen time'. We discuss avenues for researchers to leverage methodological advancements and address how specific social media experiences and individual differences shape developmental outcomes.
社交媒体已极大地改变了青少年的成长环境。迄今为止，大多数研究这些变化影响的研究都衡量了花在社交媒体上的时间，结果并不确定——这可能是因为这种方法将社交媒体视为一个整体。社交媒体体验是复杂多样的，青少年自身也是如此。新兴研究已经确定了社交媒体的几个特定组成部分，它们与青少年心理健康有着不同的关联，以及可能会改变青少年之间这些关联的个体差异因素。在这篇年度研究综述中，我们综合了有关社交媒体影响异质性的证据，这些异质性涉及（a）社交媒体的特定组成部分和（b）青少年在社交媒体使用及影响方面的个体差异。我们首先关注可能与青少年发展特别相关的特定社交媒体组成部分——内容、特性和功能。这些包括旨在促进人际关系和社交联系的功能（例如，社交媒体动态、“好友”）、仇恨内容、通知、风险内容以及算法推荐内容等。接下来，我们概述这些影响可能对哪些人最为重要。我们回顾了关于个体差异的研究，这些差异可能解释了社交媒体影响中的一些异质性，包括性别、年龄、边缘化地位、神经生物学和社会敏感性，以及其他先前存在的心理健康问题易感性。这些领域的初步研究提出了许多具体的概念和考量因素，它们可能推动未来的研究去探讨超越“屏幕时间”的细微和精确问题。我们讨论了研究人员利用方法学进展的途径，并阐述了特定的社交媒体体验和个体差异如何塑造发展结果。
