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Girls and boys might be more vulnerable to the negative effects of social media use at different times during their adolescence, according to research published by an international team of scientists. In a study published in Nature Communications, girls experience a negative link between social media use and life satisfaction when they are 11-13 years old and boys when they are 14-15 years old. Increased social media use also predicts lower life satisfaction at age 19 years. This suggests sensitivity to social media use might be linked to developmental changes, possibly changes in the structure of the brain, or to puberty, which occurs later in boys than in girls. But, for both, social media use at the age of 19 years was again associated with a decrease in life satisfaction. At this age, say the researchers, it is possible social changes — such as leaving home or starting work — may make teens vulnerable.
Social media has fundamentally changed how young people spend time, share information and talk to others. This has led to widespread concern about its potential negative impact. Yet, even after years of research, there is still considerable uncertainty about how social media relates to wellbeing. The team looked for a connection between estimated social media use and reported life satisfaction and found key periods of adolescence where social media use was associated with a subsequent decrease in life satisfaction. The researchers also found teens who have lower than average life satisfaction later use more social media.
(www.ox.ac.uk, 28.03.2022. Adaptado.)
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