Maartje Boer

CHAPTER 6 172 Table 6.3 RI-CLPMs on Depressive symptoms and Life Satisfaction, Within-Person Cross-Lagged Associations (n = 2,109) M1a SMU problems T2 SMU intensity T2 Depressive symptoms T2 β ( SE ) β ( SE ) β ( SE ) SMU problems T1 0.695*** (0.039) 0.185** (0.058) 0.176** (0.064) SMU intensity T1 0.094** (0.033) 0.335* (0.130) 0.027 (0.058) Depressive symptoms T1 0.062 (0.032) 0.013 (0.053) 0.257 (0.131) SMU problems T3 SMU intensity T3 Depressive symptoms T3 β ( SE ) β ( SE ) β ( SE ) SMU problems T2 0.746*** (0.032) 0.247** (0.089) 0.086* (0.043) SMU intensity T2 0.027 (0.038) 0.374* (0.178) -0.001 (0.046) Depressive symptoms T2 0.020 (0.026) 0.001 (0.063) 0.421*** (0.078) M2a SMU problems T2 SMU intensity T2 Life satisfaction T2 β ( SE ) β ( SE ) β ( SE ) SMU problems T1 0.703*** (0.038) 0.185** (0.057) -0.163*** (0.043) SMU intensity T1 0.096** (0.035) 0.334** (0.128) -0.010 (0.061) Life satisfaction T1 -0.050 (0.029) -0.024 (0.050) 0.084 (0.097) SMU problems T3 SMU intensity T3 Life satisfaction T3 β ( SE ) β ( SE ) β ( SE ) SMU problems T2 0.750*** (0.030) 0.249* (0.098) -0.116* (0.048) SMU intensity T2 0.028 (0.038) 0.374* (0.177) -0.022 (0.064) Life satisfactionT2 -0.008 (0.024) 0.009 (0.063) 0.113 (0.066) Notes. RI-CLPM = random intercept cross-lagged panel model. SMU = social media use; β = STDYX-standardized; SE = standard error. Results in table show the average estimates over 20 imputed datasets of plausible values. All models included correlations between (the residuals of the) measurements in the same year (results not shown). *** p < 0.001; ** p < 0.01; * p < 0.05 SMU Problems and Mental Health In contrast, adolescents whose SMU problems increased reported increased depressive symptoms one year later (M1a: β T1,T2 =0.176, p =0.006and β T2,T3 =0.086, p = 0.046). Adolescents whose SMU problems increased showed decreased life satisfaction one year later (M2a: β T1,T2 = -0.163, p < 0.001 and β T2,T3 = -0.116, p = 0.017). The reverse paths were non-significant, which means that adolescents whose depressive symptoms increased or whose life satisfaction decreased did not show increased SMU problems one year later. Thus, consistent across waves, we observed a unidirectional association between SMU problems and low mental health, which partially confirms our expectations.