It is well-established that social connectedness and a sense of belonging are linked to a low risk of anxiety and depression among adolescents (Allen et al., 2014 Jose et al., 2012 McLoughlin et al., 2019). Online browsing (happiness vs boredom admiration vs envy)ĥ4 adolescents aged 11–18 and mental health practitionersĮxposure to content that promotes self-harmĬollectively, beneficial effects of social media are linked to its use as a means of connecting with others, especially though enabling easier connection and communication with families, friends, and new people (Anderson & Jiang, 2018a, b Clark et al., 2018). Interest-driven exploration (inspiration vs distress) Self-expression (affirmation vs concerns about others’ judgements) Interactions with others (closeness vs disconnection) The summary findings of these studies are illustrated in Table Table1 1.Ģ6 high school students from grade 9, 10 and 11 In contrast, other studies (e.g., Radovic et al., 2017 Weinstein, 2018 O’Reilly, 2020 Fiacco, 2020 Hjetland et al., 2021) highlighted that the mental health impact of social media is two-sided from the perspectives of adolescents, social media has both positive and negative influences on their mental health. ( 2018) conducted six focus group interviews involving 54 UK adolescents aged 11–18 and revealed only negative influences of social media (i.e., mood and anxiety disorders, cyberbullying, and addiction) from the perspectives of adolescents. To date, a few studies explored adolescents’ perspectives and experiences of social media using a qualitative approach. Considering the mixed findings (i.e., no effect, positive, negative or both positive and negative effects) in the literature which mainly came from cross-sectional quantitative studies, there is a clear need for in-depth qualitative studies to expand our understanding of why and how adolescents use social media and how social media impacts upon their mental health (Keles et al., 2020 Schønning et al., 2020). Despite extensive research, the effect of social media on the mental health of adolescents is not yet understood due to mixed and inconsistent findings (Best et al., 2014 Keles et al., 2020 Orben, 2020 Schønning et al., 2020 Valkenburg et al., 2021). Research on social media use and its impact on the mental health of adolescents has increased recently, with many studies investigating whether constant use of social media is associated with mental health problems, including anxiety and depression (e.g., Karim et al., 2020 Marino et al., 2018 Nesi, 2020 Twenge & Martin, 2020). According to national UK and international data, the most enthusiastic users of social media were adolescents (Abraham, 2020 Lenhart, 2015). Since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic in March 2020 and restrictive measures being introduced 2020–2021 to contain the spread of the virus, the number of social media users worldwide has soared further by 23% which reached 4.20 billion active social media users (Johnson, 2021). In the last ten years, the number of social media users has rapidly increased from 0.97 billion in 2010 to 3.40 billion in 2019 (eMarketer, 2017 Statista, 2021). Strengths and methodological limitations of the study, implications for future research that emerged from the study were discussed. The results were discussed in relation to the study aims and previous study findings. From the adolescents’ accounts, social media has both positive and negative impacts on their mental health, but mostly positive impacts during the Covid-19 pandemic. Two key themes were identified: the beauty of social media that captured positive experiences and emotions of adolescents and the beast of social media that captured negative experiences and emotions. The interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim and analysed using interpretative phenomenological analysis. In-depth interviews were conducted with eleven adolescents aged 14–16 (five female, six male) across England. The purpose of this study was to explore why and how adolescents use social media, adolescents’ lived experiences on social media, how they make sense of these experiences having impact on their mental health, and the influence of the Covid-19 pandemic on their use of social media and mental health. Despite extensive research, the mental health implication of social media in adolescents is not yet understood due to mixed and inconsistent findings and more in-depth qualitative studies are needed to expand our understanding of the impact of social media on adolescent mental health during the Covid-19 pandemic.
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