Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences
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Browsing Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences by Author "Choukas-Bradley, Sophia"
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Item #Grateful: Longitudinal Associations Between Adolescents’ Social Media Use and Gratitude During the COVID-19 Pandemic(Journal of Research on Adolescence, 2021-08-26) Maheux, Anne J.; Nesi, Jacqueline; Galla, Brian M.; Roberts, Savannah R.; Choukas-Bradley, SophiaDuring the COVID-19 pandemic, some ways of using social media—such as directly communicating with friends—may have helped adolescents thrive. We examined longitudinal associations between high school adolescents’ social media use and gratitude across a 15-month period before and during the pandemic (n = 704, Mage = 15.10; 52% girls). The trajectories of gratitude and the importance of social media for meaningful conversations with friends—but not frequency of social media use—were positively associated over time. At the within-person level, gratitude predicted increased importance of social media for meaningful conversations, but not vice-versa. Findings suggest that gratitude may be associated with and may motivate using social media to foster social connection, but may not increase overall social media use.Item Longitudinal associations between appearance-related social media consciousness and adolescents' depressive symptoms(Journal of Adolescence, 2022-01-26) Maheux, Anne J.; Roberts, Savannah R.; Nesi, Jacqueline; Widman, Laura; Choukas-Bradley, SophiaIntroduction: Frequent social media use among adolescents is associated with depressive symptoms, though prior work has overwhelmingly used cross-sectional designs and focused on “screen time.” Subjective social media experiences, such as the concern with one's physical appearance on social media, may be more relevant to adolescents' depressive symptoms than mere frequency of use. Appearance-related social media consciousness (ASMC) is the preoccupation with one's physical attractiveness in social media photos and has been associated with depressive symptoms above and beyond frequency of social media use in prior cross-sectional work. Methods: In this brief report, we assessed this association longitudinally over 1 year within a diverse sample of highschool adolescents in the Southeastern US (n = 163, M age = 16.19; 55.8% girls; 44.8% White, 23.9% Black, 26.4% Hispanic/Latinx; 49.7% received free or reduced-price lunch). Results: Baseline ASMC was associated with higher depressive symptoms 1 year later, even when controlling for time spent on social media. Although girls reported higher levels of ASMC, associations were similar for adolescent boys and girls. No evidence was found that heightened depressive symptoms at baseline were associated with higher ASMC 1 year later. Conclusions: The findings highlight the importance of physical appearance concerns on social media—above and beyond the frequency of use—in the development of depressive symptoms among adolescents. Implications for future research to examine the role of subjective social media experiences in adolescents' depressive symptoms are discussed.Item Sexual and gender minority (SGM) adolescents' disordered eating: Exploring general and SGM-specific factors(International Journal of Eating Disorders, 2022-05-09) Roberts, Savannah R.; Maheux, Anne J.; Watson, Ryan J.; Puhl, Rebecca M.; Choukas-Bradley, SophiaObjective: Sexual and gender minority (SGM) adolescents disproportionately report disordered eating, yet have primarily been considered under a larger SGM umbrella. The current study 1) compared disordered eating between sexual minority (SM) and gender minority (GM) adolescents; 2) examined how general psychological factors (self-esteem, depression, and stress) and SGM-specific factors (e.g., feelings about SGM identity, access to SGM resources) were associated with disordered eating; and 3) examined whether associations between these factors differed for SM versus GM adolescents. Method: SGM adolescents in the U.S. (N = 8814; 35.0% GM; 43.7% cisgender girls; 66.9% White; Mage = 15.6) reported their disordered eating, depressive symptoms, stress, self-esteem, and SGM-related experiences on an anonymous, cross-sectional online survey. Results: GM adolescents exhibited a higher prevalence of clinical threshold disordered eating than SM adolescents. Self-esteem was associated with lower odds of caloric restriction, purging, and binge eating. Depression was associated with higher odds of caloric restriction, diet pill use, purging, laxatives, and binge eating. Stress was associated with higher odds of purging. Associations were stronger for GM adolescents' caloric restriction. Positive feelings about SGM identity were associated with lower odds of caloric restriction, purging, and binge eating, whereas greater stress of “coming out” was associated with higher odds of caloric restriction, purging, and binge eating. Discussion: These results suggest that SGM adolescents' disordered eating is associated with both general psychological factors and unique SGM experiences. Results highlight the importance of considering how the unique experiences of SGM youth may leave them vulnerable to disordered eating behaviors. Public Significance Statement: Sexual and gender minority (SGM) youth are disproportionately affected by disordered eating. The current study found that higher depression and stress, and lower self-esteem, were associated with SGM adolescents' disordered eating. Furthermore, unique SGM experiences, such as stress about coming out, were also associated with eating pathology. Results highlight the importance of considering SGM adolescents' perceptions of their identity and social support.