@article{ref1,
title="Gender differences in the associations between age trends of social media interaction and well-being among 10-15 year olds in the UK",
journal="BMC public health",
year="2018",
author="Booker, Cara L. and Kelly, Yvonne J. and Sacker, Amanda",
volume="18",
number="1",
pages="e321-e321",
abstract="BACKGROUND: Adolescents are among the highest consumers of social media while research has shown that their well-being decreases with age. The temporal relationship between social media interaction and well-being is not well established. The aim of this study was to examine whether the changes in social media interaction and two well-being measures are related across ages using parallel growth models. <br><br>METHODS: Data come from five waves of the youth questionnaire, 10-15 years, of the Understanding Society, the UK Household Longitudinal Study (pooled n = 9859). Social media interaction was assessed through daily frequency of chatting on social websites. Well-being was measured by happiness with six domains of life and the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire. <br><br>RESULTS: Findings suggest gender differences in the relationship between interacting on social media and well-being. There were significant correlations between interacting on social media and well-being intercepts and between social media interaction and well-being slopes among females. Additionally higher social media interaction at age 10 was associated with declines in well-being thereafter for females, but not for males. <br><br>RESULTS were similar for both measures of well-being. <br><br>CONCLUSIONS: High levels of social media interaction in early adolescence have implications for well-being in later adolescence, particularly for females. The lack of an association among males suggests other factors might be associated with their reduction in well-being with age. These findings contribute to the debate on causality and may inform future policy and interventions.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="1471-2458",
doi="10.1186/s12889-018-5220-4",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s12889-018-5220-4"
}