Can Social Media Participation Enhance LGBTQ+ Youth Well-Being? Development of the Social Media Benefits Scale
| dc.contributor.author | Eaton, Andrew | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2022-04-28T19:54:10Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2022-04-28T19:54:10Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2021-01-23 | |
| dc.description | This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) which permits any use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed as specified on the SAGE and Open Access pages (https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/open-access-at-sage). | en_US |
| dc.description.abstract | Social media sites offer critical opportunities for lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, queer, and other sexual and/or gender minority (LGBTQ+) youth to enhance well-being through exploring their identities, accessing resources, and connecting with peers. Yet extant measures of youth social media use disproportionately focus on the detrimental impacts of online participation, such as overuse and cyberbullying. This study developed a Social Media Benefits Scale (SMBS) through an online survey with a diverse sample (n = 6,178) of LGBTQ+ youth aged 14–29. Over three-quarters of the sample endorsed non-monosexual and/or and gender fluid identities (e.g., gender non-conforming, non-binary, pansexual, bisexual). Participants specified their five most used social media sites and then indicated whether they derived any of 17 beneficial items (e.g., feeling connected, gaining information) with the potential to enhance well-being from each site. An exploratory factor analysis determined the scale’s factor structure. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Sheffe post hoc tests examined age group differences. A four-factor solution emerged that measures participants’ use of social media for: (1) emotional support and development, (2) general educational purposes, (3) entertainment, and (4) acquiring LGBTQ+-specific information. Bartlett’s test of sphericity was significant (χ2 = 40,828, p < .0005) and the scale had an alpha of .889. There were age group differences for all four factors (F = 3.79–75.88, p < .05). Younger adolescents were generally more likely to use social media for beneficial factors than older youth. This article discusses the scale’s development, exploratory properties, and implications for research and professional practice. | en_US |
| dc.description.authorstatus | Faculty | en_US |
| dc.description.peerreview | yes | en_US |
| dc.description.sponsorship | The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This work was supported by Insight and Partnership Grants from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC #495-2015-0780 and #895-2018-1000). Shelley L. Craig is the Canada Research Chair in Sexual and Gender Minority Youth. A.D.E. holds a salary award from the Ontario HIV Treatment Network (OHTN). | en_US |
| dc.identifier.citation | Craig SL, Eaton AD, McInroy LB, Leung VWY, Krishnan S. Can Social Media Participation Enhance LGBTQ+ Youth Well-Being? Development of the Social Media Benefits Scale. Social Media + Society. January 2021. doi:10.1177/2056305121988931 | en_US |
| dc.identifier.doi | https://doi.org/10.1177/2056305121988931 | |
| dc.identifier.uri | https://hdl.handle.net/10294/14811 | |
| dc.language.iso | en | en_US |
| dc.publisher | Social Media + Society | en_US |
| dc.rights | Attribution 4.0 | * |
| dc.rights.uri | https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ | * |
| dc.subject | LGBTQ+ youth, well-being, social media, factor analysis, scale development | en_US |
| dc.title | Can Social Media Participation Enhance LGBTQ+ Youth Well-Being? Development of the Social Media Benefits Scale | en_US |
| dc.type | Article | en_US |