Social support and online interaction and their links to psychosocial well-being among Nordic adolescents: Integrating variable-centered and person-centered approaches

The Nordic countries are among the most digitally advanced societies in the world. Past research suggests that both social support offline and interaction online are linked to adolescent psychological adjustment. However, less is known regarding the complex implications of distinctive sources of social support offline and online interaction for a broader range of indices of adolescent psychosocial well-being, including its contemporary forms such as social media addiction. This study utilized two methodological approaches to examine the social components and determinants of psychosocial well-being (psychosomatic complaints and problematic social media use) among 22,384 Nordic adolescents aged between 11 and 15 years. A variable-centered approach focused on examining perceived support from four sources (family, peers, teachers, and classmates), preference for online interaction, and intensity of online interaction as predictors of psychosocial well-being. Concurrently, a person-centered approach was utilized to explore the subgroups at risk of psychosocial ill-being. In the variable-centered analysis, lower support from family, teachers, and classmates, higher preference for online interaction, and higher intensity of online interaction with “online contacts” (i.e., interaction partners met online) were linked to higher levels of psychosomatic complaints and more problematic social media use. Additionally, lower peer support was associated with increased psychosomatic complaints, while greater intensity of online interaction with “offline contacts” (e.g., close friends, parents) was related to more problematic social media use. The person-centered analysis identified five profiles of adolescents: (1) “Multiply supported online users” (56%), (2) “Primarily (family-peer) supported high online users” (22%), (3) “Non-supported online users” (13%), (4) “Primarily non-supported online users” (5%), and (5) “Non-supported high online users” (4%). Adolescents reporting higher support from multiple sources and moderate online interaction with offline contacts experienced the lowest levels of psychosomatic complaints and the least problematic social media use, while the other profiles exhibited more complex and less optimal psychosocial well-being. In conclusion, these findings suggest that adolescents benefit most from robust social support offline across multiple social networks, but strong support from certain sources (teachers, classmates) can somewhat mitigate the adverse effects of low support from other sources (family, peers). The relationship between online interaction and psychosocial well-being is contingent on the level of social support.