acase@tulane.edu / Abstract Future racial socialization (FRS) is a future-oriented concept that speaks to how adolescents intend to racially socialize their own children. This future-oriented parenting decision has been associated with the existing racial socialization messages that adolescents receive from their own caregivers prior to becoming parents themselves. Research has posited that parental racial socialization is arguably one of the most important developmental processes for African American youth (Hughes, 2006), and has been largely conceptualized as a process between parents and children. However, a new force called Social Networking Sites (SNS) has entered our ecological world over the last 20 years; possibly catalyzing a shift to occur in the racial socialization processes of adolescents, especially the African American adolescents of today known as being a part of the Generation Z or as the iGeneration (approximately born 1995-2012). It is important to understand how SNS are altering the adolescent development processes so that we can understand its benefits and risks. This study is a secondary data analysis of archived data that examines the relation of Parental Racial Socialization to Future Racial Socialization (FRS) as moderated by SNS and Racial Identity (RI), in African American Adolescents. In the current study, the participants are 300 African American high school students in a large southern urban city. The students ranged in age from 13 to 19 years old and attended a predominately (98%) African American high school in the United States. Findings demonstrate that racial identity plays a significant role in the relation between PRS (cultural socialization type) and FRS, and when specifically examining African American girls, racial centrality (a subcomponent of racial identity) and SNS play a significant role in moderating the relation between two types of PRS and FRS. / 1 / Ashlee Yates

In the Chinese authoritarian and conservative political system, Chinese political efficacy and political participation are popular directions of research in recent years. Based on uses and gratifications theory and self-efficacy theory, this thesis explored the relationships among social media use, political efficacy, and political participation. The most important part of this study was examining the mediating role of political efficacy between social media use and political participation in mainland China. Internal political efficacy and external political efficacy are two dimensions of political efficacy that were separately examined in this study. The results revealed that internal political efficacy can mediate between social media use and political participation. However, external political efficacy cannot mediate social media use and political participation. The additional findings are related to gender, age, and educational level. Chinese males scored higher on average in social media use, internal political efficacy, and political participation than females. Chinese females measured a higher on external political efficacy score than males. In addition, Chinese young adults have more social media use related to politics than older adults. On the other hand, Chinese older adults have higher internal political efficacy and external political efficacy than younger adults. Furthermore, higher educational level is a strong predictor of political participation.

Increased impact of technology leads numerous studies to conduct research on the effect of social media on performance. Very limited of such studies have tried to observe and record the use of social media for collaborative learning as a way to improve collaborative authoring. This paper tries to the validation of the technology acceptance model (TAM) on social media use for collaborative learning to enhance collaborative authoring among research students. To achieve the study objective, this paper employed a questionnaire as the main data collection method and distributed it to 1118 responses of various researchers from the Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) all of whom use social media. The findings were obtained via a quantitative research method, structural equation modeling (SEM-AMOS). The findings from our empirical study indicate that all the hypotheses were supported; we demonstrate that the use of social media positively and significantly related to collaborative authoring through collaborative learning between researchers in higher education. Therefore, the proposed model will help academic and decision-makers formulate the strategies that can encourage students and researchers to use social media to improving collaborative authoring through collaborative learning.

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ABSTRACT ASSOCIATION BETWEEN SEDENTARY BEHAVIORS AND BMI IN US ADOLESCENTS: ANALYSIS OF THE 2015 YOUTH RISK BEHAVIOR SURVEY By SARAH SADRUDDIN KABANI April 27, 2017 INTRODUCTION: Research has shown a strong link between sedentary behaviors and obesity among adolescents. AIM: This study aims: 1) To determine sedentary behaviors in US high school adolescent nationally 2) To determine the association between sedentary behaviors and BMI after controlling for demographics, recreational behaviors, diet, and physical activity 3) To examine the association between engaging in more than one sedentary behavior and BMI after controlling for demographics, recreational behaviors, diet, and physical activity METHODS: The Youth Risk Behavioral Survey (YRBS) 2015 data was utilized in this study by using weighted percentages to determine the association between sedentary behaviors and BMI while controlling for demographics such as age, sex, race, and grade, recreational behaviors such as smoking and alcohol consumption, diet such as fruit, vegetable, and soda consumption, and physical activity. Univariate logistic regressions and multivariate logistic regressions were conducted to determine the association between sedentary behaviors and BMI. Adjusted and unadjusted odds ratio, 95% confidence intervals, and p-values were calculated. RESULTS: 81.6% of adolescents watched TV during a school day, while 18.4% did not watch TV during a school day. For video games/computer usage/social media (PG) usage, 82.6% engaged in PG usage during a school day, while 17.4% did not engage in PG usage during a school day. When stratifying by BMI, overweight adolescents and obese adolescents have significantly different sex distribution (p=<0.0001), race/ethnicity distribution (p=0.047), TV usage during a school day (p=0.04), PG usage during a school day (p=0.047), and TV & PG usage during a school day (p=<0.02). For TV & PG usage during the school days, adolescents who watch TV and PG, were at higher odds of being obese [AOR =1.3 (1.04, 1.6), p = 0.02] when comparing to adolescents who did not watch TV and PG. DISCUSSION: This study concludes that there is an association between obesity and adolescents who watch TV and use video games/computer/social media during a school day. Sociodemographic factors such as some races, age, and gender are also responsible for obesity among adolescents.

Adolescence is an exceptional period of life, not least in terms of social and brain development. Friends become increasingly important, susceptibility to peer rejection increases, and brain regions involved in social cognition are predicted to go through major changes. Adolescents’ social lives today may, to different extents, take place on social-media platforms online. This systematic review investigates how social-media use (SMU) affects adolescents’ brains. Out of 626 studies from the initial search, seven met the inclusion criteria. Out of these, five studies used functional magnetic resonance imaging, one study used diffusion tensor imaging, and one study used diffusion-weighted imaging. Functional findings suggest the reward circuit of the brain, as well as brain regions implicated in social cognition, to be involved in SMU. Activity in the nucleus accumbens was elicited by both giving and getting likes on posted pictures, whereas more SMU related to increased activity in the medial prefrontal cortex during physical self-judgement. Structural findings indicate frequent SMU to be associated with more reward sensitivity in terms of increased white matter in reward-processing pathways. These studies provide an initial understanding of the neural mechanisms of adolescents’ SMU. Future research is needed to draw inferences about how SMU affects the brains of adolescents.

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Background: Nowadays, the usage of social media starts at a very young age because of the availability of tools where social media platforms become available. Even though social media can be very usable in many cases, it can also be harmful. It can be seen that it is between the ages of 12-17 that teenage girls suffer the most from social media use as senders and receivers, and with this, there are negative effects that can harm these teenage girls. It is therefore important to understand the consequences that come when using social media as a teenage girl. Purpose: The purpose of this research is to explore how teenage girls, as senders and receivers, experience the negative effects of social media use. Method: This research undertook a qualitative research approach with an exploratory nature. In order for the researchers to collect data for the study a pilot test was first conducted in order to make sure that the actual semistructured interviews could be conducted. The semi-structured interviews were conducted by gathering data from participants of eight teenage girls between the ages of 12-17 from a local high school in Växjö, Sweden. Findings: This research found that the negative effects for a sender on social media were found to be sleep quality and the need to interact with others. Furthermore, the negative effects for a receiver were found to be sleep quality, the creation of bad habits, influencers, and undesired content. Conclusion: The findings show that there were more negative effects of using social media as a receiver than as a sender from the teenage girls perspective. Sleep quality was affecting both senders and receivers but in different aspects. The need to interact with others was the major impact on a sender on social media. Furthermore, the result showed that creation of bad habits, influencers, and undesired content were negatively affecting the teenage girls as receivers from their social media use.

Background: Depressive and anxiety symptoms are prevailing among transitional aged youth (TAY) putting this population at high risk for lifelong mental illness as these disorders track through adulthood. Heavy social media use (SMU) is prevalent among TAY, which is concerning given it is associated with emotional distress in the form of depression and anxiety, with evidence that unfavourable social comparisons may be a primary mechanism. However, most research is cross-sectional in nature, highlighting the need for experimental studies to provide a greater understanding of how SMU impacts mental health and social comparisons. Accordingly, the primary aim of this study was to examine whether reducing SMU to 1 hour/day reduced depressive symptoms in distressed TAY. Secondary objectives included the examination of intervention effects on anxiety symptoms, and whether social comparison mediated the relationship between SMU reduction and reduced depressive and anxiety symptoms. Exploratory objectives included examining the intervention effects on individuals with greater/lesser emotional distress at baseline. Design and Methods: A randomized controlled trial was used to assign 218 (77% female) TAY (aged 17-25 years) to either the intervention group (n=116) or the control group (n=102). The intervention group was instructed to reduce smartphone-based SMU to a maximum of 1hr/day while the control group had no SMU restrictions. Study duration included 1-week baseline period followed by a 3-weeks intervention period; and mental health outcome measurements were taken at baseline and 4-weeks. Depressive symptoms were measured using the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CESD-10), and anxiety symptoms were measured using the Generalized Anxiety Disorder scale (GAD-7), while social comparison was measured using the Technology-Based Social Comparison and Feedback-Seeking subscale (SCFS), which is a subscale of the Motivations for Electronic Interaction Scale (MEIS). Results: Analysis of variance (ANOVA) revealed the intervention was successful in limiting SMU, evidenced by a significant group x time interaction showing a greater reduction of SMU in the intervention group compared to the control group (p <.001, parital ηₚ²=.286). Simple effects showed that intervention participants spent less time in SMU than controls at week two (79.8min (45.6) vs 186.8min (98.21), p < .001), week three (75.97min (53.78) vs 189.67min (84.38), p < .001), and week four (76.01min (57.48) vs 188.8min (94.94), p <.001). There was good adherence to submitting screenshots (94%) and this did not differ by group at baseline (p = 0.474) or during the 3-week intervention period (p = 0.834). ANOVA also revealed a significant group x time interaction showing a greater reduction for the intervention group compared to the control group at week 4 in depressive symptoms (p= .019, partial ηₚ²= .025) and anxiety symptoms (p = .015, partial ηₚ²= .027), but groups did not differ on changes in social comparison (p= .593, partial ηₚ²= .001). Three-way interactions showed that relative to controls, SMU reduction produced a greater reduction in anxiety symptoms for those with high baseline scores (p = .008, partial ηₚ²= .032) compared to those with low baseline scores, whereas this three-way interaction was not significant for depressive symptoms (p = .438, ηₚ²=.003). Conclusion: Our data suggest that reducing SMU to approximately 1hr/day may be a feasible, inexpensive and effective therapeutic component that should be considered in the overall management of anxiety and depressive symptoms in TAY with emotional distress, a vulnerable population for lifelong mental illness.

The number of social media platforms (SMP hereinafter) is ever-increasing, and all of these platforms compete for more attention and content. The global social media market is expected to grow to $223.11 billion in 2022 (Social Media Global Market Report, 2022). In an era characterized by the meteoric rise and evolution of Social Media Platforms (SMPs), understanding the interplay between platform features and user behaviors is both critical and complex. In this dissertation, we aim to elucidate the relationship between SMPs and society, with the ultimate objective of fostering a healthier social media ecosystem. This dissertation is comprised of two incisive essays, both of which are underpinned by robust theoretical frameworks. The first essay adopts an expansive purview of the SMP ecosystem. Grounded in Uses and Gratifications Theory and media studies, it establishes a user typology based on the previous typologies and examines the interaction between user motives, SMP scores, and SMP features. Employing the Analytic Hierarchy Process, a sophisticated decision-making tool, the study quantifies utility-driven choices across platforms. A notable revelation is the heterogeneity in user reliance on SMP features, contingent upon their underlying motives. This essay offers critical insights into the multifaceted nature of SMP utilization. The second essay focuses specifically on Reddit's ChangeMyView community, an exemplar of constructive discourse in the SMP environment. It constructs a theoretical model premised on the Elaboration Likelihood Model and the concept of pre-suasion, and utilizes a mixed-methods approach to explore the persuasive strategies using Content Analysis. We also utilize ChatGPT in the Content Analysis to corroborate our inferences. The findings confirm our theorization about the role of the Delta reward system in fostering reflective engagement with content, which leads to informed opinion formation. Collectively, with these essays, we aim to provide extensive insights into the dynamic interplay between SMPs and users. Both essays hold significant implications for research community, SMP decision-makers, organizations that use SMPs, and a broader audience interested in optimizing their social media repertoire. Through a theory-driven and empirical lens, employing several epistemologies, this dissertation provides a holistic depiction of the SMP ecosystem. / Doctor of Philosophy / The landscape of social media is constantly evolving with an ever-growing number of platforms vying for user attention. In this dissertation, we aim to analyze the relationship between social media platforms and their users, seeking ways to foster a healthier and more constructive social media environment. This dissertation is structured into two distinct yet interconnected essays. In the first essay, we look at the broader ecosystem of social media platforms. It categorizes users based on their motivations for using social media, such as seeking information or connecting with others. We examine how different features of social media platforms cater to these diverse motivations. To accomplish this, we employ a method known as the Analytic Hierarchy Process, which is a decision-making tool used to measure and analyze choices. The key insight from this essay is the diversity in how users interact with social media features, and how this interaction is influenced by their underlying motivations. In the second essay, we take a closer look at a specific community on Reddit called ChangeMyView. This community is unique as it encourages users to engage in thoughtful and reasoned debates. In this essay, we develop a theoretical model to understand the mechanisms through which information is processed and opinions are changed within this community with a strong focus on Delta system, a feature that rewards users for successfully changing someone's opinion through challenging their view and pointing the flaws in their thinking. Collectively, the dissertation provides an in-depth understanding of the dynamic relationship between social media platforms and users. It does so through rigorous analysis underpinned by theoretical frameworks. This research is not only academically significant but also has practical implications. It provides valuable insights for decision-makers to improve social media platforms, aids organizations in understanding how best to engage with social media, and informs users on optimizing their social media interactions. In essence, this dissertation serves as a comprehensive analysis that bridges the gap between the ever-evolving features of social media platforms and the multifaceted behaviors of their users.