Conference Agenda

Background: The increasing prevalence of social media use among adolescents raises questions about who is most at risk for problematic social media use and what factors might protect against it. While parental and peer relationships influence adolescent behavior, it remains unclear whether these social factors moderate the relationship between early social media use and later problematic use. Objective: This study examines the link between social media use at age 14 and problematic social media use at age 17, measured by perceived addiction and mood modification. It also explores the moderating role of parental factors (parental closeness, parent-child conflict) and peer relationships (online bullying, physical bullying, and close friendships) as potential risk or protective factors. Methods: Data were drawn from 5,760 participants in the UK Millennium Cohort Study from Sweep 6 (age 14) and Sweep 7 (age 17). Moderation analysis (Hayes’ PROCESS Model 4.2) and multiple linear regression (SPSS 29) assessed the direct and interactive effects of early social media use, parent and peer relationships on problematic social media use. Results: Higher levels of early social media engagement were associated with both increased perceived addiction and greater mood modification. Within peer relationships, online bullying moderated the relationship between social media use and perceived addiction, weakening the association at higher levels of bullying. In contrast, parent-child relationships did not moderate this association but had direct effects on problematic social media use: More closeness to parents was associated with more perceived addiction but with lower mood modification, whereas more parent-child conflict was associated with both more perceived addiction and greater mood modification. Conclusion: Problematic social media use in adolescence is shaped by parental and peer relationships, highlighting complexities beyond time spent on social media. Strengthening parental bonds and addressing peer-related risks may help mitigate the negative impact of problematic social media use.

Introduction: Problematic social media use (PSMU) in association with loneliness represents a major concern in adolescent research (e.g., Zhao et al., 2024). Although this relationship has been widely documented, and recent literature suggests a dynamic association between these two constructs (e.g., Zhang et al., 2023), inconsistent findings result from mostly cross-sectional and adult-centered studies. Furthermore, still little research focused on what adolescents do on social media and how this contributes to both PSMU and loneliness.
Method: A path analysis was employed to examine the associations between PSMU and loneliness, focusing on the mediating role of users’ active social media use (i.e., self vs other-oriented use). A total of 1185 adolescents (59.3% F, Mage = 15.97 years, SD = 1.43) completed self-report measures at two timepoints, 6 months apart. Gender differences were also explored.
Results: Bidirectional associations were found from T1 loneliness to T2 PSMU, and from T1 PSMU to T2 loneliness, while controlling for autoregressive effects. At T1, PSMU and loneliness were associated with both other-oriented and self-oriented use. Furthermore, T2 PSMU was predicted only by higher other-oriented use, while T2 loneliness was predicted solely by higher self-oriented use. Two significant positive indirect effects emerged in the associations between T1 PSMU and T2 Loneliness via self-oriented use, and between T1 PSMU and T2 PSMU via other-oriented use. Differences across gender groups also emerged.
Discussion: Contrary to what expected (Kardefelt-Winther, 2014; McKenna et al., 2002), these findings suggest that lonely adolescents avoid engaging in active social media use, thus failing to compensate for their social difficulties online. Therefore, other mechanisms, but not active use, would contribute to a higher risk of PSMU. On the other side, problematic users who engage more in active use would be at greater risk of increased PSMU and loneliness six months later. Practical implications are discussed.

Background: Recent research has shown that youth depression and anxiety were predicted more accurately by specific risky digital activities and the reactions these induce, rather than ‘screen time’ per se. This suggests that the negative mental health impacts of online experiences and exposures may be best mitigated if young people shift the balance of their digital activity to more positive experiences. We report the development and validation of the Managing My Life Online (MYLO) questionnaire, which measures young people’s perceived impact of online experiences on their daily functioning and mental health and their digital risk management actions.

Methods: 383 young people (16-25 years; 75% female) completed the MYLO, a measure of youth online experiences, and additional measures of risky digital activity, depression, anxiety, and wellbeing. Data were analysed using exploratory factor analysis (EFA), correlation analysis, and multiple regression.

Results: Participants reported negative impacts of online experiences on daily functioning, notably, less sleep. They reported that being online affected their mental health both negatively and positively, with positive impacts perceived as more common. Factor analysis supported a three-factor solution for risk management actions: Enhancing Positive Engagement; Coping Actions; and Reducing Engagement. All three factors were significantly positively correlated with perceived negative digital impact and worry about this impact. Anxiety and depression symptoms were associated with higher perceived negative impact and more worry about online experiences. When exposed to risky digital activity, more anxious individuals were more likely to adopt Coping Actions and Reducing Engagement, compared to their less anxious counterparts.

Discussion: Young people actively manage their digital activity as a function of their worries about its negative impact. Attempting to manage digital risk is more common among those who worry the most. Longitudinal studies are required to tease apart the causal relationships between digital risk, its management, and mental health.

Adolescence is characterized by cognitive, physical, and socio-emotional changes, including significant shifts in sleep patterns. Although sleep problems in adolescence are relatively common, differences in frequency have been found between countries such as Croatia, Greece, and the Netherlands. Evidence suggests that excessive social media use is linked with sleep problems, including longer sleep latency and increased daytime sleepiness. Furthermore, there is a bidirectional relationship between poor sleep quality and negative mood. Funded by the EADP Collaboration Grant 2024-2025, the project “Smartphone Use, Sleep, and Mood: A cross-cultural study on the role of emotion regulation” aims to clarify how adolescent sleep, social media use, mood, and emotion regulation are dynamically linked with each other, and how these links might be different across countries. Using Experience Sampling Methodology (ESM), adolescents will report on their daily smartphone use, mood, and sleep quality over a seven-day period. This presentation will present preliminary findings from this study. The findings will contribute to the development of theoretical models and highlight the need to address the potential impact of smartphone use on adolescents' health by providing a basis for evidence-based recommendations to improve their daily functioning and overall well-being.

This study aimed to examine the moderating effect of children’s hyperactivity on the relationship between smartphone use during conversations with parents and conflicts over smartphone use between parents and children. The study was conducted on a sample of 284 children (aged 10 to 15 years, with a mean age of 12.23 in 2021; 40.2% boys) in Croatia. The data were collected as part of a four-wave longitudinal study (2021–2023) within the project “Digital technology in the family: patterns of behavior and effects on child development.“ Children reported the frequency of their smartphone use during conversations with their parents on a scale constructed specifically for the project (third wave), hyperactivity symptoms on the Social Skills Improvement System (SSIS, Gresham & Elliott, 2008) scale (third wave), and conflicts with parents about smartphone use on a scale also designed for the project (fourth wave). A model was tested, where smartphone use during parent–child conversations served as the predictor, conflicts about smartphone use as the criterion, and hyperactivity symptoms as the moderator. Results show a positive correlation between frequent smartphone use during conversation and conflicts about smartphone use, and hyperactivity symptoms significantly influenced the strength of this association. The effect of smartphone use on conflicts was likely stronger for children with higher hyperactivity symptoms. The findings imply that in children who have pronounced hyperactive symptoms, smartphone use during conversations might trigger even more intense or frequent parent-child conflicts about smartphone use. These findings could inform parenting interventions, emphasizing mindful phone use during interactions, particularly for families with children exhibiting hyperactive behaviors.