Stress and loneliness: exploring adolescents’ use of social media as a coping strategy during COVID-19
Intended for healthcare professionals
Evidence and practice    

Stress and loneliness: exploring adolescents’ use of social media as a coping strategy during COVID-19

Jalal Kayed Damra Associate professor, Department of Educational Psychology and Psychological Counselling, Faculty of Educational Sciences, The Hashemite University, Zarqa, Jordan
Mutasem Mohammad Akour Associate professor, Department of Educational Psychology and Psychological Counselling, Faculty of Educational Sciences, The Hashemite University, Zarqa, Jordan
Omar Al Omari Professor, College of Nursing, Sultan Qaboos University, Muscat, Oman

Why you should read this article:
  • To read about a study of adolescents’ use of social media as a coping strategy during COVID-19

  • To increase your knowledge of types of coping mechanisms used by adolescents during challenging situations

  • To enhance your understanding of the positive and negative effects of using social media as a coping mechanism

Background During the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, adolescents used various coping strategies to manage stress and loneliness. One such strategy was to engage in active coping, social relations coping and humour coping via social media. Such coping strategies can be helpful but can also reinforce stress and loneliness.

Aim To explore adolescents’ use of social media to manage stress and loneliness at a time of restricted social contacts due to the COVID-19 pandemic, including potential differences between adolescents according to gender, age, area of residence and extent of social media use.

Method A cross-sectional design and an online questionnaire were used to survey a convenience sample of adolescents aged between 12 and 18 years in Jordan. Three data collection tools were used – the modified Brief Coping Scale, the six-item Revised UCLA Loneliness Scale and the Perceived Stress Scale.

Results A total of 770 adolescents participated, half of whom were using social media more than before the pandemic. Increased use of active coping, social relations coping and humour coping was associated with decreases in stress and loneliness. Active coping contributed the most to reducing levels of stress while social relations coping contributed the most to reducing levels of loneliness. Younger participants made more use of active coping and humour coping than older participants.

Conclusion Social media use can be a positive coping strategy for adolescents to manage stress and loneliness during a crisis such as the COVID-19 pandemic.

Nursing Children and Young People. doi: 10.7748/ncyp.2023.e1456

Peer review

This article has been subject to open peer review and has been checked for plagiarism using automated software

Correspondence

jalal@hu.edu.jo

Conflict of interest

None declared

Damra JK, Akour MM, Al Omari O (2023) Stress and loneliness: exploring adolescents’ use of social media as a coping strategy during COVID-19. Nursing Children and Young People. doi: 10.7748/ncyp.2023.e1456

Published online: 22 May 2023

Background

During the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, many schools were closed and most activities for children and young people that usually take place outside the home and in groups were restricted. The consequent social isolation increased the incidence of mental health issues in this group (Brooks et al 2020, Xiang et al 2020, Al Omari et al 2021, Cauberghe et al 2021, Zainel et al 2021). Adolescence is already a time of life associated with feelings of social isolation (Uccella et al 2021) and a higher risk of mental health issues, so a major crisis situation such as the COVID-19 pandemic would be expected to increase the severity of such issues and the number of adolescents who experience them (Laursen and Hartl 2013, Al Omari et al 2021). Indeed, the pandemic has been linked to negative consequences on the mental health of children and young people (Morgül et al 2020, Meherali et al 2021).

Adolescents coped in various ways with managing stress, anxiety and loneliness, including making substantial use of social media platforms (Barron Millar et al 2021). However, such coping strategies can reinforce stress, anxiety and loneliness in the long term (Olatunji et al 2011); Lisitsa et al (2020), for example, demonstrated a relationship between stress and substantial use of social media during the pandemic. Conversely, some adolescents may have found using social media helpful for managing stress and loneliness, so it is important to determine how this can be used as an effective coping strategy during a crisis situation such as the COVID-19 pandemic (Zainel et al 2021).

Many coping mechanisms used by people faced with challenging situations have been identified, researched and described in the literature, including active coping or problem-focused coping (Lazarus 2006), social relations coping (Sarason and Sarason 1985) and humour coping (Nezlek and Derks 2001). Cauberghe et al (2021) explored how adolescents used three coping strategies – active coping, social relations coping and humour coping – via social media to manage the challenges created by the COVID-19 pandemic. The participants appeared to use social media to source information about the pandemic (active coping), stay in touch with their friends and break social isolation (social relations coping) and/or watch and share videos, jokes and memes (humour coping).

Implications for practice

  • Social media use can be a positive coping strategy but there is a risk that it may reinforce stress and loneliness, so young people would benefit from guidance on how to use it effectively

  • Mental health nurses and school nurses could organise workshops for young people on optimal use of social media to manage mental health issues

  • Young people could be shown how to use active coping, social relations coping and humour coping via social media for managing stress and loneliness, particularly in a crisis situation

Aim

The aim of the study was to explore adolescents’ use of social media to manage stress and loneliness at a time of restricted social contacts due to the COVID-19 pandemic, including potential differences between adolescents according to gender, age, area of residence and extent of social media use. The research questions were:

  • What is the relationship between adolescents’ gender, age, area of residence and extent of social media use on the one hand, and the combination of active coping, social relations coping and humour coping on the other hand?

  • Does the combination of the three coping strategies predict adolescents’ levels of stress and loneliness and, if so, how well?

Method

Sampling and data collection

A cross-sectional design was used and an online questionnaire was developed to survey a convenience sample of adolescents aged between 12 years and 18 years in Jordan. Data collection took place between 2 April and 25 August 2020. Three methods were used to disseminate the survey link:

  • School administrators in 11 schools (five in urban areas and six in rural areas of north and central Jordan) sent the survey link to all students on the students’ social media accounts and/or emails.

  • Social workers and counsellors working for four organisations providing psychological, academic and social support to young people in Jordan shared the survey link with parents on WhatsApp.

  • The survey link was posted on publicly visible posts on Facebook, whose users could share it with others.

The total number of potential participants was not known so the overall response rate could not be calculated. Of the 862 responses received by the end of the data collection period, 770 were complete, giving a complete response rate of 89%. Complete response rates obtained in online surveys have been shown to range from 20% to 56% (Naslund et al 2019).

Data collection tools

Three data collection tools were used, which were translated from English into Arabic and back into English by three authorised translators to ensure their accuracy of meaning.

Brief Coping Scale

The Brief Coping Scale (BCS) was originally developed by Yang (2016) to measure how adolescents use social media to cope with stress and adjustment problems. Cauberghe et al (2021) modified the BCS to measure adolescents’ use of three coping strategies – active coping, social relations coping and humour coping – via social media to manage the challenges created by the COVID-19 pandemic. The modified BCS was used in the present study and contains nine items: four on active coping, three on social relations coping and two on humour coping. Answers are given on a five-point Likert-type scale ranging from 1 (‘I don’t use’) to 5 (‘I always use’). Higher scores reflect a higher use of the three coping strategies via social media. The inter-rater validity of the modified BCS was checked by a panel of experts and its validity calculated through confirmatory factor analysis. Its reliability was checked through test-retest reliability (0.87) and internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha=0.90).

Perceived Stress Scale

The Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) was developed by Cohen et al (1983) to measure perceived stress. It contains ten items assessed on a five-point Likert scale ranging from 0 (‘never’) to 4 (‘always’). Scores between 0 and 13 indicate low levels of stress, scores between 14 and 26 indicate moderate levels of stress and scores between 27 and 40 indicate high levels of stress (Cohen et al 1983, Cohen and Janicki-Deverts 2012). The PSS was used in the present study to assess participants’ levels of perceived stress. The inter-rater validity was checked by a panel of experts and its reliability was checked through test-retest reliability (0.89) and internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha=0.80).

Six-item Revised UCLA Loneliness Scale

The UCLA Loneliness Scale was originally developed by Russell et al (1978) as a 20-item scale and has since been revised several times, including by Russell et al (1980). Wongpakaran et al (2020) developed and validated a shorter version of the Revised UCLA Loneliness Scale containing six items (R-ULS-6). Answers are given on a four-point Likert-type scale ranging from 1 (‘never’) to 4 (‘always’) and higher scores reflect greater loneliness. Wongpakaran et al’s (2020) R-ULS-6 was used in the present study to assess participants’ levels of loneliness. Inter-rater validity was checked by a panel of experts and reliability was checked through test-retest reliability (0.85) and internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha=0.83).

Data analysis

Multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) and multiple regression analysis were used to answer the two research questions. The result of Box’s M test, which is used to test for equivalence of covariance matrices, was not significant, which meant that the assumption of homogeneity of covariance matrices between the three coping strategies for the categories of gender, age, area of residence and extent of social media use was met. The assumption of homogeneity of error variances of each coping strategy for the different variables was also correct, since Levene’s test was not significant for any of the strategies. The assumptions of univariate and multivariate normality were checked and found to be correct. Finally, correlation coefficients between the three coping strategies ranged between 0.38 (between social relations coping and humour coping) and 0.55 (between active coping and social relations coping), which indicated the potential absence of multicollinearity between the three coping strategies.

Ethical considerations

The administrative approval process at the Hashemite University in Jordan involves submitting the research proposal to the head of department, who checks its methodological and ethical components in collaboration with colleagues. In this case, the head of department granted approval for the study. The study was conducted in line with the recommendations of the 1989 Helsinki Declaration for physicians conducting biomedical research involving human subjects (World Medical Association 1989). Participants were informed that their involvement was voluntary, that they could choose not to answer questions and that they could withdraw from the study at any time. No identifying data were collected, which ensured participants’ anonymity.

Results

A total of 770 adolescents participated in the study. Table 1 shows the demographic characteristics of the study sample.

Table 1.

Demographic characteristics of the study sample (n=770)

Gender Female454 (59%)
Male316 (41%)
Age 12-14 years211 (27%)
14-16 years390 (51%)
16-18 years169 (22%)
Area of residence Rural area461 (60%)
Urban area309 (40%)
Extent of social media use Less than before the pandemic109 (14%)
Same as before the pandemic272 (35%)
More than before the pandemic389 (51%)

To assess whether there were differences in the three coping strategies as a function of gender, age, area of residence and extent of social media use, the mean and standard deviation for each coping strategy was calculated as a function of each independent variable – see Table 2.

Table 2.

Mean and standard deviation for each coping strategy* as a function of gender, age, area of residence and extent of social media use

ncyp.2023.e1456_0002_tb1.jpg

The only statistically significant multivariate effect on the three coping strategies was age (Wilks’ lambda=0.980, F (6, 1522)=2.58, P<0.05), as shown in Table 3. This means that the linear combination of the three coping strategies differed for each of the three age ranges of participants.

Table 3.

Multivariate effects of gender, age, area of residence and extent of social media use on the three coping strategies*

ncyp.2023.e1456_0003_tb1.jpg

Table 4 shows the results of the subsequent analysis of variance (ANOVA). The only univariate effect that was statistically significant was age and the univariate effect of age was only statistically significant for two of the three coping strategies – active coping (F (2, 763)=6.29, P<0.01) and humour coping (F (2, 763)=5.02, P<0.01). Post-hoc comparisons between the univariate effects of each of the three age ranges on participants’ active coping and humour coping strategies using Tukey’s test showed those in the younger age range (12-14 years) used active coping and humour coping more than those in the older age ranges (14-16 years and 16-18 years). Tukey’s test is used in post hoc comparisons after an ANOVA has shown that significant differences exist between more than two means; the test is computed through a pairwise comparisons of all means.

Table 4.

Univariate effects of gender, area of residence, age and extent of social media use on the three coping strategies*

ncyp.2023.e1456_0004_tb1.jpg

Multiple linear regression analysis was conducted to determine whether the combination of active coping, social relations coping and humour coping would predict participants’ levels of stress and loneliness. Table 5 shows the mean, standard deviation and intercorrelation between stress, loneliness and the three coping strategies. The three coping strategies were negatively correlated with stress and loneliness, which means that the increased use of these strategies was associated with a significant decrease in levels of stress and loneliness among adolescents. The coefficients of correlation were higher for stress than for loneliness.

Table 5.

Mean, standard deviation and intercorrelation between stress, loneliness and the three coping strategies*

ncyp.2023.e1456_0005_tb1.jpg

Table 6 shows that the combination of the three coping strategies significantly predicted participants’ levels of stress (F (3, 766)=328.59, P<0.001) and loneliness (F (3, 766)=72.39, P<0.001), with all three coping strategies significantly contributing to the prediction. For predicting levels of stress, the adjusted R2 value was 0.561, indicating that 56% of the variance in stress levels was explained by the model. For predicting levels of loneliness, the adjusted R2 value was 0.22, indicating that 22% of the variance in loneliness levels was explained by the model. The beta weights shown in Table 6 suggest that:

Table 6.

Multiple regression analysis showing how the combination of the three coping strategies predicted stress and loneliness*

VariableB (unstandardised beta)SEB (standard error for the unstandardised beta)β (standardised beta)
StressLonelinessStressLonelinessStressLoneliness
Active coping–0.418–0.1720.0240.030–0.533 –0.233
Social relations coping–0.086–0.1890.0240.030–0.104 –0.243
Humour coping–0.149–0.0520.0170.021–0.245 –0.091
Constant4.0123.6720.0710.089
Stress
R2=0.561; F (3, 766)=328.59; P<0.001
Loneliness
R2=0.22; F (3, 766)=72.39; P<0.001

*Stress as measured on the Perceived Stress Scale (Cohen et al 1983); loneliness as measured on the Revised UCLA Loneliness Scale (Wongpakaran et al 2020); coping strategies as measured on the modified Brief Coping Scale (Cauberghe et al 2021); R2 = coefficient of determination; F=variance ratio; P=probability value; P<0.001; P<0.05

  • Increasing use of the three coping strategies resulted in decreased levels of stress, with active coping contributing the most to the decrease followed by humour coping and social relations coping.

  • Increasing use of the three coping strategies resulted in decreased levels of loneliness, with social relations coping contributing the most to the decrease followed by active coping and humour coping.

Discussion

The aim of the study was to explore adolescents’ use of social media to manage stress and loneliness at a time of restricted social contacts due to the COVID-19 pandemic, including potential differences between adolescents according to gender, age, area of residence and extent of social media use.

There were no statistically significant differences in the three coping strategies according to gender, area of residence and extent of social media use, but participants appeared to differ in their use of these strategies according to age. Other studies have shown that crisis situations can have different effects on adolescents according to age (Damra 2013, Barron Millar et al 2021, Uccella et al 2021). Younger cohorts tend to perceive a crisis situation as more threatening than older cohorts and may therefore resort to different ways of coping. This could explain why younger participants in the present study used active coping and humour coping more than older participants.

The results showed that increased use of the three coping strategies was associated with statistically significant decreases in levels of stress and loneliness, the effect being stronger for stress than for loneliness; 56% of the variance in stress levels and 22% of the variance in loneliness levels were predicted by use of the three coping strategies. Active coping contributed the most to reducing stress while social relations coping contributed the most to reducing loneliness. Cauberghe et al (2021) found that, to some degree, adolescents’ use of social media to manage the challenges created by the COVID-19 pandemic relieved their distress and anxiety, increased their happiness and reduced their loneliness. Adolescents who engage in positive coping strategies via social media may have more positive relationships with others, feel less uncertainty, be less burdened and be more able to lighten their own and their peers’ mood by using humour.

Humour can be a healing medium (Martin 2002) and is used extensively for building connections, promoting positive interactions, facilitating self-disclosure and decreasing stress and conflict (Martin et al 2003). Humour coping via social media, notably through sharing videos, memes and jokes, was used as a coping strategy during the COVID-19 pandemic by people in general (Chiodo et al 2020) and adolescents in particular (Kodak and Oduor 2020, Sebba-Elran 2021). Kodak and Oduor (2020) found that the use of humour coping by adolescents during the pandemic could decrease tension, create bonds, reinforce resilience to stress, distract from worries and normalise their experiences. Sebba-Elran (2021) showed that it could regulate anxiety, reduce stress and fear, resolve conflict and help maintain communication with others.

Zillmann’s (1988) mood management theory suggests that the consumption of messages – particularly entertaining messages – can change a person’s prevailing mood and that people select specific messages for consumption as a way of regulating their mood. This may explain why adolescents use social media to manage their mental health issues, regulate their emotions and reduce their loneliness (Greenwood and Long 2009, Kim et al 2011). In the present study, approximately half of participants (n=389, 51%) used social media more than before the pandemic, which confirms to some extent the hypothesis that social media use is prompted by a need to self-regulate negative emotions. In times of crisis, people subconsciously use certain social media applications or outlets to regulate their emotional state and achieve a more positive mood (Eriksson 2018).

The results confirm that adolescents use social media as a means of coping with stress and loneliness. They are consistent with the results of other studies (Barron Millar et al 2021, Cauberghe et al 2021) whose participants made extensive use of social media to cope with the social isolation created by the COVID-19 pandemic. Stress and loneliness have been shown to drive adolescents to use social media as a positive coping strategy (Reinecke and Oliver 2016, Aalbers et al 2019). However, the positive effects of social media use on participants’ mental health in the present study contrast with the negative effects during times of crisis demonstrated, for example, by Kim et al (2011), Radovic et al (2017) and Chao et al (2020) – one of the risks being that people’s use of social media is a passive rather than active way of engaging with others and seeking social support.

Ng et al (2012) noted that the increased use of the internet by adolescents could be viewed as an avoidance mechanism, but for Radovic et al (2017) it could be seen as a positive coping mechanism. Adolescents appear to have conflicting perceptions of their social media use. Radovic et al (2017) found that some adolescents who saw themselves as highly worried or lonely reported that using social media made them feel more relaxed, brave and popular, but others felt it made them feel worse about themselves and less confident; social media use can, therefore, reinforce adolescents’ social isolation (Kim et al 2011, Radovic et al 2017, Chao et al 2020). Aathira and Geetha (2020) found that most adolescents they surveyed were aware of the role of social media during the pandemic and that it could spread correct information and misinformation.

Future studies could examine how children and young people with mental health issues use social media to cope with the emotional, psychological and social consequences of crisis situations. Young people use a variety of social media platforms, so it could be useful to explore how their use of different coping strategies correlates with their use of different platforms.

Limitations

The study was conducted with a convenience sample of young people aged 12 to 18 years in Jordan, which limits the generalisability of the results. No information was collected about participants’ mental health status, for example whether they had depression or experienced anxiety. Responses may have been biased because those who chose to participate could have been active social media users and/or particularly interested in using social media as a coping strategy. However, it is unlikely that participants would have been dishonest about their use of social media, since they received no compensation for participating.

Data collection took place after the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in Jordan, so by then participants would have become more used to the pandemic and the intensity of their emotions could have decreased.

Conclusion

Most of the adolescents in this study made more use of social media during the pandemic than before it. Participants engaged in three types of coping strategies – active coping, social relations coping and humour coping – via social media and this was associated with decreases in stress and loneliness, the effect being stronger for stress than for loneliness. The study therefore adds to the evidence that the use of social media can be a positive coping method for adolescents to manage stress and loneliness in a crisis situation.

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