Abstract / Summary
Adolescents differ in their vulnerability to social media’s mental health effects. Some may experience stronger links between emotional reactions to social media (ERSM) and mood, increasing risk for subsequent mental health problems. In the current study, 131 adolescents (ages 14–17) completed baseline assessments and eight weeks of ecological momentary assessment (3x/day). A dynamic structural equation model tested group-level and person-specific relationships between negative ERSM and depressed mood, controlling for prior mood. Adolescents showed substantial heterogeneity in ERSM-mood relationships. Stronger coupling was associated with baseline depression, anxiety, suicidal thoughts, and nonsuicidal self-injury, but not suicide attempts. Throughout the study, stronger coupling was associated with higher depressed mood, suicidal thoughts, and mood volatility. It was not associated with the frequency or intensity of negative ERSM or in-person experiences or emotion regulation strategies. Taken together, adolescents whose mood is more strongly tied to ERSM may be at heightened risk for mental health problems.