Maartje Boer

CHAPTER 9 304 To that end, programs providing adolescents with insight into their SMU behaviors may be valuable, focusing on making adolescents aware of whether their SMU is problematic, which is considered an essential starting point to change behaviors (Throuvala et al., 2020). For example, researchers from the Netherlands have recently launched a website aimed at providing people with insight into their media use and promoting a ‘digital balance’. The program on the website does not target screen time, but whether digital media use interferes with important life domains including physical exercise, sleep, mental health, and social activities (Trimbos-institute, 2020). Such programs may help adolescents to become aware of their (problematic) attachment to social media, which may be relevant even at an early age: Research among Dutch early adolescents showed that the majority of the 10- and 11-year-olds already use social media, and that 11-year-olds in elementary schools sometimes already report problematic SMU (Boer & Van den Eijnden, 2018; Kennisnet, 2017). In addition, programs focusing on preventing and reducing SMU problems may be considered. In developing such programs, abstaining from social media to prevent or overcome SMU problems may not be an effective strategy. This is because some activities that are relevant to adolescents’ social and educational development take place via social media, such as socializing with peers and communication about schoolwork with teachers and classmates (Smahel et al., 2020; Underwood & Ehrenreich, 2017). Therefore, withdrawing from social media (i.e., ‘digital detox’) could go at the expense of important life domains that are crucial to adolescents’ wellbeing and psychosocial functioning, and could possibly even lead to social exclusion. Alternatively, programs could focus on supporting adolescents in keeping or regaining control over their SMU. Experimental research among university students in the United Kingdom showed that students engaging in mindfulness exercises for ten consecutive days reported a decrease in SMU problems, whereas students not engaging in mindfulness did not report a change in SMU problems (Throuvala et al., 2020). Mindfulness, that is, the ability to be conscious about experiences in the present and to dissociate from automatic and recurring thoughts and behaviors, supports coping with distractions, which could possibly help adolescents to overcome their SMU problems (Du et al., 2021; Throuvala et al., 2020). In addition, interventions