Social media use enhances adolescents’ school belong albeit increases bullying victimization: A study of the 2018 PISA survey

The beneficial and detrimental effects of social media use (SMU) on adolescents’ psycho-social development need to be deeply investigated. This study used a large and representative sample derived from the 2018 PISA survey to examine the relationship between SMU, school belonging, and school bullying. The moderating effect of cultural individualism was also analyzed. The results of multi-level structural equation model (MSEM) indicate that: (1) SMU increases school belonging and also bullying victimization after controlling for individual- and country-level demographic variables. (2) Bullying victimization is negatively associated with school belonging. (3) The moderating effect of cultural individualism is significant. Specifically, in collectivist (vs. individualist) countries/societies, SMU is more strongly associated with school belonging, and school bullying is more strongly associated with reduced school belonging.