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Одиночество и социальная поддержка как характеристики социального здоровья и факторы зависимости от социальных сетей у подростков
AIm. Analysis of differences in the manifestation of dependence on social networks in connection with the different severity of the characteristics of social health (loneliness and social support).
Context and relevance. Loneliness and social support are considered as indicators of a teenager's social health, characterizing the inner experience of isolation from others and the breadth of the circle of contacts that a teenager can turn to for help. Previously, the question of their relationship in the context of dependence on social networks was not considered.
Study design. The study was implemented as a comparative analysis of indicators of dependence on social networks, motives and formal characteristics of the use of social networks among adolescents, who differ in the ratio of loneliness and social support.
Participants. The study sample consisted of 6405 adolescents aged 13 to 18 years (M = 15, SD = 1.46), 42.2% were young men who were students of educational institutions in Yakutsk (Republic of Sakha (Yakutia)).
Methods (tools). Three-Point Loneliness Scale, Social Support Scale, Bergen Social Media Addiction Scale. The motives for using social networks and the formal characteristics of their use were identified.
Results. Groups of adolescents were identified, differing in the severity of loneliness and social support, which reveal significant differences in the manifestation of dependence on social networks. The specificity of groups with different ratios of loneliness and social support is found in the motives for using social networks and formal characteristics (time, number of friends). In the group of adolescents with a high indicator of loneliness and low social support, the effect of compensation and impoverishment is manifested, when the use of social networks leads to negative results and forms addiction. Adolescents with low loneliness scores and high social support, on the other hand, show positive effects from social media use.
Main conclusions. Among indicators of social health, a high level of loneliness in a teenager can lead to a greater degree of dependence on social networks. It was also found that dependence on social networks may be based not on direct communicative motives, but on motives aimed at establishing and maintaining ties with a group united by common gaming interests.