Latent profiles of social media use among adolescents: Exploring differences across demographics, academics, and psychosocial outcomes.

Abstract

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. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).