La Trobe

Motivations for Social Media Use: Associations with Social Media Engagement and Body Satisfaction and Well-Being among Adolescents

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posted on 2025-01-22, 23:51 authored by Hannah JarmanHannah Jarman, Mathew MarquesMathew Marques, Sian McLeanSian McLean, A Slater, Susan PaxtonSusan Paxton
Adolescents are spending considerable time on social media, yet it is unclear whether motivations for social media use drive different forms of social media engagement, and their relationships with body satisfaction and well-being. This study tested a proposed model of the relationships between motivations for social media use, types of social media engagement and body satisfaction and well-being. Responses to an online survey from 1432 Australian adolescents (Mage = 13.45 years, SD = 1.14, range 11–17; 55.4% boys) were collected. Structural equational modelling indicates excellent model fit. Specifically, motivations for social media use (information sharing, passing time, escapism, social interaction, social capital and appearance feedback) were associated with engagement (intensity, photo-based use, active use, passive use and liking use) and revealed mixed associations with body satisfaction and well-being. The findings support the importance of considering motivations for social media use in future research.

Funding

Whether social media literacy mitigates effects of social media in adolescents

Australian Research Council

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This research was also supported by La Trobe University, Melbourne.

History

Publication Date

2021-12-01

Journal

Journal of Youth and Adolescence

Volume

50

Issue

12

Pagination

15p. (p. 2279-2293)

Publisher

Springer

ISSN

0047-2891

Rights Statement

© The Authors 2021. This version of the article has been accepted for publication, after peer review and is subject to Springer Nature’s AM terms of use (https://www.springernature.com/gp/open-science/policies/accepted-manuscript-terms), but is not the Version of Record and does not reflect post-acceptance improvements, or any corrections. The Version of Record is available online at: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-020-01390-z

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