Thesis
Self-Perception Factors as Moderators of the Relation Between LGBTQ+ Adolescent Social Media Experiences and Mental Health
Washington State University
Master of Science (MS), Washington State University
05/2025
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.7273/000007502
Abstract
The relation between adolescent social media use and mental health has proven tenuous, with little attention paid to marginalized populations, such as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer plus (LGBTQ+) youth. Given the potential risks and benefits associated with social media use among this population, the current study sought to examine how self-perception factors (i.e., collective self-esteem, loneliness) may moderate the relation between social media experiences and mental health and well-being for LGBTQ+ youth. A total of 180 LGBTQ+ adolescents ages 13 to 19 (M = 15.89, SD = 1.70) were recruited through outreach to nationwide organizations serving LGBTQ+ individuals. All data were collected online through single administration self-report questionnaires distributed through Qualtrics. Contrary to hypotheses, greater self-reported frequency of social media use was related to greater symptoms of depression and anxiety and lower well-being, whereas other social media frequency measures were unrelated to mental health. However, negative experiences with social media and victimization experiences were related to all mental health variables. Neither loneliness nor collective self-esteem were moderators in the relations between social media engagement and mental health and well-being, although they showed variable patterns of relations in analyses, with loneliness generally predicting a greater proportion of variance in the mental health criterion variables. These findings demonstrate the relevance of negative and minority-stress related experiences on social media for LGBTQ+ adolescent mental health and well-being, as well as how loneliness may be an important variable in this process. These results may have implications for the development of interventions aimed at reducing the impacts of these factors for LGBTQ+ youth.
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Details
- Title
- Self-Perception Factors as Moderators of the Relation Between LGBTQ+ Adolescent Social Media Experiences and Mental Health
- Creators
- Alexandra C. Yoshizumi
- Contributors
- Christopher T. Barry (Chair)Hsin-Ya Liao (Committee Member)Traci K Gillig (Committee Member)
- Awarding Institution
- Washington State University
- Academic Unit
- Department of Psychology
- Theses and Dissertations
- Master of Science (MS), Washington State University
- Publisher
- Washington State University
- Number of pages
- 96
- Identifiers
- 99901220470501842
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Thesis