Abstract
Abstract The present research examines the longitudinal average impact of frequency of use of Internet and social networking sites (SNS) on subjective well-being of adolescents in Germany. Based on five-wave panel data that cover a period of nine years, we disentangle between-person and within-person effects of media use on depressive symptomatology and life satisfaction as indicators of subjective well-being. Additionally, we control for confounders such as TV use, self-esteem, and satisfaction with friends. We found that frequency of Internet use in general and use of SNS in particular is not substantially related subjective well-being. The explanatory power of general Internet use or SNS use to predict between-person differences or within-person change in subjective well-being is close to zero. TV use, a potentially confounding variable, is negatively related to satisfaction with life, but it does not affect depressive symptomatology. However, this effect is too small to be of practical relevance.
Highlights
With the increasing proliferation of electronic devices and social networking sites (SNS) in the daily life, there are growing concerns that the increased time spent online could harm the wellbeing of adolescents
In addition to cross-sectional research, longitudinal studies are needed because they allow to disentangle between-person relationships from within-person effects
The present study addresses these shortcomings by investigating the impact of Internet use in general and SNS use in particular on adolescents’ subjective well-being over a period of nine years using bi-annual repeated-measures panel data
Summary
With the increasing proliferation of electronic devices and social networking sites (SNS) in the daily life, there are growing concerns that the increased time spent online could harm the wellbeing of adolescents. Most studies assessed general Internet use or the use of specific Internet applications without considering other media (e.g., TV use) or non-media factors (e.g., personality, social support) that may affect well-being. Such variables are potential confounders since they can be related to well-being. We unscramble between- and within-person effects, consider the impact of TV use as an additional predictor, and control for central factors outside the domain of media use This methodological approach complements the existing research as it offers a broader and long-term oriented view on adolescents’ media use and well-being which is unique to the research landscape to date.
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