Adolescents and Social Media: Longitudinal Links Between Motivations for Using Social Media and Subsequent Internalizing Symptoms

Knowledge is lacking on whether adolescents’ motivations for social media use predict internalizing symptoms, and few studies have considered the moderating role of extraversion. In 2017 (T1) and 2018 (T2), 197 adolescents (49.70% girls, M_age = 13.15, SD = 0.36) from a large metropolitan area participated in this study. Adolescents reported on their social media use motivations and extraversion (at T1) and depressive and anxiety symptoms (T1 and T2). Latent class analysis revealed four motivation profiles at T1: (1) entertainment and fun (30.97%); (2) avoidance and escapism (14.21%); (3) meeting new people, feel involved (16.75%); (4) boredom (38.07%). Social motivations (profile 3) predicted elevated internalizing symptoms at T2. Avoidance and boredom motivations (profile 2 and 4) predicted internalizing symptoms for adolescents with low extraversion. Social media use motivations and extraversion distinguish adolescents who benefit from social media from those who experience difficulties.