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.

Axelsson C & Salminen M. Barns påverkan av skärmtid. En systematisk litteraturstudie. Magisteruppsats i pediatrisk omvårdnad 15 högskolepoäng. Malmö universitet: Fakulteten för hälsa och samhälle, Institutionen för vårdvetenskap, 2019.Bakgrund: Skärmtid har ökat explosionsartat den senaste tiden och kan ses som en naturlig del av vardagen i alla åldrar. Barnsjuksköterskor inom barnhälsovården träffar flera olika barn och föräldrar, och numera ingår även skärmtid som en del av det hälsofrämjande arbetet. Barn som går på BVC befinner sig i en känslig utvecklingsfas där många olika funktioner, fysiska som psykiska formas. Av den anledningen är det viktigt att kunskapen kring skärmtids påverkan på barn i denna ålder ökar.Syfte: Syftet med litteraturstudien var att undersöka hur barns hälsa påverkas av skärmtid.Metod: En systematisk litteraturstudie som baserades på 15 artiklar med kvantitativ ansats. Databassökningen gjordes i Cinahl, PubMed och PsycInfo genom olika sökblock. Studierna granskades med SBU:s granskningsmall för observationsstudier. Resultaten analyserades och presenterades i tabellform samt deskriptiv form.Resultat: Resultatet som framkom kunde ses utifrån olika hälsoperspektiv relaterat till barns skärmtid vilka var sömn, beteende och kognitiv utveckling samt BMI och kardiometabolisk påverkan. En negativ påverkan identifierades på barns sömn, beteende och kognitiva funktion samt även ett förhöjt BMI. Däremot sågs ingen kardiometabolisk påverkan.Konklusion: Det finns flera samband mellan barns skärmtid och hälsa vilket är en viktig aspekt att förhålla sig till som barnsjuksköterska inom barnhälsovården. Genom att samtala med föräldrar och barn om skärmtid kan hälsan förbättras.Nyckelord: Barnhälsa, hälsa, förskolebarn, media, spädbarn, tv / Axelsson C & Salminen M. Children's influence of screen time. A systematic literature study. Master's thesis in pediatric nursing 15 credits. Malmö University: Faculty of Health and Society, Department of Health Care Sciences, 2019.Background: Screen time has increased explosively lately and can be seen as a natural part of the everyday life of all ages. Pediatric nurses in child health care meet several different children and parents, and nowdays screen time is as part of the health promotion work. Children who attend the BVC are in a sensitive development phase where many different functions, physical and mental, are formed. For this reason, it is important that the knowledge of screen time affects children of this age increases.Aim: The aim of the literature study was to investigate how children's health is affected by screen time.Method: A systematic literature study based on 15 articles with a quantitative approach. The database search was done in Cinahl, PubMed and PsycInfo through various search blocks. The studies were examined with SBU's review template for observation studies. The results were analyzed and presented in tabular and in descriptive form.Result: Three different themes in relation to children's screen time were reported in the result which were sleep, behaviour and cognitive development as well as BMI and cardiometabolic influence. A negative impact was identified on children's sleep, behaviour and cognitive function as well as an elevated BMI. However, no cardiometabolic effect was seen.Conclusion: There are several connections between children's screen time and health, which is an important aspect to relate to as a pediatric nurse in child health care. By talking to parents and children about screens, health can be improved.Keywords: child health, health, infants, preschool children, television, media.

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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.

The purpose of the study was to examine the relationship between media as family leisure and family functioning among families with at least one adolescent child. Specifically, this study examined the relationship between family functioning and media use, media connection, and media monitoring over time. Furthermore, because the data were nested in families, and because most family leisure research has been limited to individual-level analyses, this study incorporated mixed modeling into its analysis which accounted for family-level and individual-level variance. The sample consisted of 500 families participating in the Flourishing Families (FFP) Project, a longitudinal study of inner-family life involving families with a child between the ages of 11 and 16. Multiple regression analysis indicated there was a significant negative relationship between media use and family functioning. Mixed model analysis further indicated there was a significant positive relationship between media connection, parental media monitoring, and family functioning, and this relationship was stable over time. These relationships were significant even when accounting for the variance explained by depression, anxiety, conflict, and other demographic variables. Findings support existing media effects and family leisure research. This research, however, goes beyond existing research in its mixed level analysis that accounted for family-level variance and in its analysis of time in the stability of the relationship between media variables and family functioning. Findings further suggest the importance in parental involvement in adolescent media use when explaining variance in family functioning.

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