How social media use patterns shape adolescent emotion regulation: A three-wave longitudinal study of mediating mechanisms and moderating conditions

Abstract

The relationship between social media use and adolescent emotional development remains only partly understood, in part because much prior work has leaned on undifferentiated screen-time metrics that blur qualitative differences in how young people actually engage with platforms. We addressed that limitation by proposing a multidimensional classification framework that distinguishes four usage patterns—active social engagement, passive browsing, content creation, and social comparison—and by examining their longitudinal associations with emotion regulation capacity. Drawing on a three-wave panel of 1,200 adolescents (aged 12–18) surveyed at six-month intervals over 12 months, we estimated latent growth curve models and random-intercept cross-lagged panel models separately rather than merging them, using the former to trace developmental trajectories and the latter to probe temporal ordering rather than strictly causal relations. Passive browsing and social comparison use prospectively predicted slower growth in emotion regulation, with social comparison showing the most consistently one-directional association; active social engagement showed a modest positive association that was mediated by perceived online social support. Social comparison tendency and self-esteem mediated the link between passive consumption and weaker regulation. Age and neuroticism were treated as controls, while gender was retained as a moderator and interpreted cautiously, since the relevant effects, though statistically reliable, were small and confined to a single pathway. For interpretation we adopt a smallest effect size of interest of \documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \usepackage{amsmath} \usepackage{wasysym} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{amsbsy} \usepackage{mathrsfs} \usepackage{upgreek} \setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \begin{document}$$\:\left|\beta\:\right|\:=\:.10$$\end{document}, a benchmark adopted for the present analyses, and note that several associations sit close to it. Taken together, the findings argue for pattern-specific rather than duration-focused thinking about adolescent digital well-being, while cautioning against strong causal or alarmist readings of effects this modest.