Studies of media use

Today, we’re looking at five articles addressing very different aspects of media use. First, we look at 3-6 year olds. Pecukonis, Yücel, Lee, Knox, Boas & Tager-Flusberg (2025) published “Do Children's Brains Function Differently During Book Reading and Screen Time? A fNIRS Study” in Developmental Science. Here’s the edited abstract:

Previous research suggests that book reading and screen time have contrasting effects on language and brain development. However, few studies have explicitly investigated whether children's brains function differently during these two activities. The present study used functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) to measure brain response in 28 typically developing preschool-aged children (36–72 months old) during two conditions—a book reading condition, in which children listened to a story read by a live experimenter while viewing words and pictures in a book, and a screen time condition, in which children listened to a story that was played via an audio recording while viewing words and pictures on a screen. Analyses revealed significant activation in the right temporal parietal junction (TPJ) during the book reading condition only. Across regions of interest (ROIs), including the inferior and middle frontal gyrus (IMFG), the superior and middle temporal gyrus (SMTG), and the TPJ, brain response during the book reading condition was greater in right-lateralized ROIs than left-lateralized ROIs, while brain response during the screen time condition was similar across left and right ROIs. Findings suggest that the lateralization of preschool-aged children's brain function within these ROIs differs during book reading and screen time, which provides a possible neurobiological explanation for why book reading and screen time impact language development in such different ways. Findings provide important insights into how children's brains function during different types of activities (dyadic vs. solitary) and when using different types of media (print vs. digital).

This is a small sample study as most need to be when they’re using sophisticated technology. I found it intriguing that there was no difference between left and right regions of interest when using screen, while reading a book engaged the right hemisphere regions of interest more. The right TPJ is very important for attention, social cognition, and some aspects of theory of mind. Next, we turn to adolescents. Srisarajivakul, Chan, Thornton & Renshaw (2025) published “Latent Profiles of Social Media Use among Adolescents: Exploring differences across demographics, academics, and psychosocial outcomes” in School Psychology. Here are the highly edited abstract and impact Statement:

A significant majority of American adolescents use social media, with more than half checking their accounts frequently throughout the day. This study aimed to develop social media use profiles and assess their impact on adolescents’ well-being, school connectedness, and academic performance. Social media use was evaluated through five indicators, including time spent online, perceived addiction, and its impact on schoolwork. School connectedness was measured using a reliable subscale from the Student Subjective Wellbeing Questionnaire, while emotional well-being and academic achievement were assessed using items on emotional well-being, academic well-being, grade point average, and sleep. Latent profile analysis identified social media use profiles (i.e., low, moderate, high) and their effects on these outcomes. Analyzing data from 27,336 U.S. adolescents across 83 schools during the 2020–2021 school year, results suggested that those who were in the high profile had significantly lower scores in school connectedness, emotional well-being, and academic achievement compared with infrequent users. High school students, girls, Black/African American, Latino/a/x, and socioeconomically disadvantaged youth were particularly at-risk for problematic social media use. The findings highlight the need for an enhanced school climate and support systems. Limitations and implications for school psychology research and practice are discussed.

Given the saliency and widespread use of social media among adolescents, it is important for school psychologists and personnel to understand its effects on youths’ academic and psychosocial outcomes. Profiles with higher social media use were associated with lower scores in school connectedness, emotional well-being, and academic achievement among a national sample of 27,336 American adolescents. High school students, girls, Black/African American, Latino/a/x, and socioeconomically disadvantaged youth may be the most at-risk for problematic social media use. 

These results are not surprising, but helpful. Another study of adolescents looks at family conflict. Carvalho, Ravindran & Koss (2025) published “Youth Electronic Media Use and Family Conflict: Bidirectional associations across early adolescence” in Journal of Family Psychology. Here’s the edited abstract:

The present study examined the longitudinal, bidirectional associations between early adolescents’ electronic media use and family conflict across 3 years using data from the ABCD study (T1; N = 11,787). Findings indicated that more overall electronic media use was related to later increases in family conflict, whereas the reverse association was not supported. Further analyses examined associations by unique types of electronic media. Social electronic media use at T1 in girls was related to less family conflict at T2, yet more family conflict at later timepoints. These findings suggest that more overall electronic media use promotes later conflict throughout early adolescence and that girls’ use of social types of media may be especially disruptive in families as they progress through early adolescence. 

I found it interesting that media use predicted family conflict but the reverse wasn’t true and that it is girls’ behavior that is more concerning than boys. The next study turns to early adulthood. Elmer, Fernández, Stadel, Kas & Langener (2025) published “Bidirectional Associations between Smartphone Usage and Momentary Well-Being in Young Adults: Tackling methodological challenges by combining experience sampling methods with passive smartphone data” in Emotion. The edited abstract follows:

Given the pervasive role of smartphones in modern life, research into their impact on well-being has flourished. This study addresses existing methodological shortcomings using smartphone log data and experience sampling methods (ESM) to explore the bidirectional within-person relationship between smartphone usage and momentary well-being variables (i.e., affect valence, loneliness, positive affect, and negative affect). We further examine different categories of smartphone usage, namely, communication, social media, and other apps. We analyze three samples (N₁ = 225, N₂ = 17, N₃ = 13; with T₁ = 7,874, T₂ = 2,566, T₃ = 1,533 ESM reports) with multilevel models to test our preregistered hypotheses. Data for Sample I were collected in Spain in 2022 (82% female; Mage = 23.1). Samples II and III (80% female; Mage = 21.6) were collected in the Netherlands between 2021 and 2022. Our results suggest that smartphone usage within an hour before ESM assessment, especially using social media apps, is associated with reduced affect valence and increased loneliness on a within-person level. Loneliness was associated with more smartphone usage than usual, particularly the use of social media apps, within the hour following ESM assessments. However, overall, our findings indicate weak bidirectional associations between smartphone usage and indicators of momentary well-being (range standardized β = .00–.08). On the between-person level, those individuals generally high in loneliness were more affected in their momentary loneliness by prior social media use, suggesting a heightened social media sensitivity. The interplay between social media use and momentary loneliness should be studied in more detail, including contextual factors and experimental designs.

I thought this one is helpful in addressing the conflict between seeing media as a means of feeling less lonely and increasing data suggesting media use increases loneliness. These are large samples that illustrate that loneliness is associated with more social media use, especially apps. It’s not surprising that people high in loneliness already have heightened social media sensitivity. The final study looks at adults and acceptance of rape myth. Lopez, Nomamiukor, Heinlein & Wisco (2025) published “Social Media’s Impact on Rape Myth Acceptance and Negative Affect: Moderating roles of political affiliation and gender?” in Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy. Here are the edited abstract and impact statement:

Media portrayals of sexual violence have been associated with greater rape myth acceptance (RMA). The present study examined how social media posts rejecting or endorsing rape myths affected RMA and negative affect (NA), and moderating roles of gender and political affiliation. Participants were randomized into one of three simulated Facebook newsfeed conditions that were supportive of sexual trauma survivors (#MeToo), supportive of men falsely accused of rape (#HimToo), or unrelated to sexual violence (control). Participants completed the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule before and after the social media induction and the Updated Illinois Rape Myth Acceptance Scale following the induction. We found significant effects of condition on total RMA, F(2, 510) = 3.33, p = .037, and three of four RMA subscales, Fs > 2.8, ps ≤ .05. Follow-up tests indicated that #MeToo did not significantly differ from control, but that #HimToo reported significantly higher RMA than control for total RMA, β = 4.45, p = .01, and the three significant subscales, βs > .08, ps ≤ .02. Further, NA significantly decreased for control and #MeToo, but not #HimToo. Effects of condition were not moderated by gender or political affiliation for either RMA or NA. Our findings suggest that limited exposure to #MeToo posts does not affect RMA, but that #HimToo posts consistent with rape myths may increase RMA and sustain NA for both men and women and for Democrat- and Republican-identifying participants. Further research should focus on how best to counter these harmful social media effects and extend our findings to nonstudent diverse samples. 

Results suggest that social media content can negatively affect attitudes about rape myths. Future work should examine interventions aiming to decrease rape myth acceptance and identify subtypes of rape myths that may be most malleable. 

I liked this study’s design. The findings regarding the #HimToo posts are not surprising since the posts are designed to defend men falsely accused of rape; with that exposure, we can expect the belief in the rape myth to be sustained and the viewers to have more negative affect regardless of gender or political orientation. The #MeToo findings are more problematic and I think the last sentence may be most helpful. I thought each of these studies examined interesting questions about media use.