Symposia
Technology
Kiera M. James, Ph.D.
University of Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Jennifer Silk, Ph.D.
Professor
University of Pittsburgh, Department of Psychology
Pittsburgh, PA
Lori Scott, PhD
Assistant Professor
University of Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Emily Hutchinson, B.S.
Graduate Student
University of Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Sarah Wang, B.S.
Lab Manager
University of Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Stefanie Sequeira, PhD
Graduate Student
University of Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Celine Lu, PhD
Project Coordinator
University of Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Caroline Oppenheimer, PhD
Assistant Professor
University of Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Cecile Ladouceur, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Psychology
University of Pittsburgh, Department Of Psychiatry
Pittsburgh, PA
Introduction: During the lockdown phase of the COVID 19 pandemic, adolescents were forced to rely on digital technology as their primary source of social connection. Although some have shown small negative effects for quantity of social media use on adolescent mental health, the quality of the interaction is thought to be more important. During the pandemic, social technologies could provide a lifeline to adolescents by helping them feel closer with peers. We conducted a daily diary study among adolescent girls under COVID-19 stay-at-home orders to investigate associations between daily social technology use, peer closeness, and same-day emotional health.
Method: 93 adolescent girls (ages 12-17; M=15.02; 68% Caucasian; 2/3 at high temperamental risk for anxiety/depression) completed an online daily diary (88% compliance) during a 10-day period in April/May in which they were under state-issued stay-at-home orders. Diaries included adolescent report of positive affect, anxious and depressive symptoms, and feelings of closeness with peers (rated on 0 to 100-point sliding scales). Daily time on social media, texting, and video-chatting were estimated.
Results: Multilevel fixed effects models with Bayesian estimation were conducted. At the within-person level, more daily time spent videochatting and texting with peers was associated with feeling closer to peers that day, which in turn, was associated with more positive affect, and fewer depression and anxiety symptoms on the same day. All indirect paths were significant. Daily social media use was not associated with daily emotional health. At the between-person level, more time videochatting with peers across the 10 days was indirectly associated with higher average positive affect through higher mean closeness with peers (unstandardized est.=.47, SD=.27, p< .05).
Conclusions: For adolescent girls at risk for anxiety and depression, messaging and videochat technologies are important tools for maintaining a sense of connectedness with peers during periods of social isolation, with beneficial effects on emotional health. Despite concern in the media, these technologies appear to offer safe ways to promote positive emotional functioning when in-person interactions are limited. Consistent with mixed findings in the pre-pandemic literature, utilizing social media apps did not have systematic detrimental or beneficial effects on daily emotions.