Abstract:

Over the last few decades, social media has emerged to comprehend a basic tool for communicating, becoming especially relevant in key psychological features that shape teenagers’ behavior. Little has been explored about psychological effects mediated by the use of social media on this population, most investigations have been focused on adults, exploring sex differences as well, even when literature shows that teenagers are the most vulnerable to experiment these negative consequences, because of the characteristic evolutive stage they´re facing. Thus, the aim of this study was to evaluate Instagram time of utilization and its relationship with anxiety and emotional regulation. A sample of 344 teenagers with ages in between 12 and 16 years were assessed through the ISRA-J, the GPIUS-2 test and an ad hoc scale measuring time and utilization frequency. Chi Square (V Cramer) and Pearson Correlation analysis showed the following results: girls use more the platform than boys do, in ages in between 14 and 16. Moreover, teenagers experiment more cognitive, physiological, and evaluative anxiety. Moreover, they present lower levels of emotional regulation, more negative consequences, more excessive use, more worryness and worse self-regulation, being the girls the ones showing higher levels of these negative consequences.

It may be noted, on the contrary, that some previous work in this regard has found positive consequences of this use, more specifically it has been related to increased positive affect, linked to enhanced online social support, improved social skills and identity exploration (Bonetti et al., 2010; Kowert et al., 2014). It is proposed from these data, combined with our findings, to minimize the negative consequences of the platforms and maximize the positive ones. That is, to convert the networks into a protective factor for these risk variables that appear to be characteristic of this age, such as anxiety and low emotional regulation. Beyond these variables, we suggest to use the networks as a tool for psychoeducation on topics that traditional scholar education does not seem to fully address, specifically in the area of drug abuse, safe sexual practices, bullying, and, consistent with our results, to increase emotional regulation strategies. This aims to reduce the growing risk of psychological disorders, with special emphasis on eating disorders in teenage girls. In addition, it is essential to rely on the phenomenon of "influencers" to pyschoeducate in these areas, knowing that teenagers give special credibility, attention and trust to these figures.

Finally, it is considered interesting to use the networks as an extra tool for those students coming from disadvantaged homes, for example, online educating with aids for the management of family conflict, creation and strengthening of an online support network...etc.

Keywords:

Teenagers, social media, Instagram, sex differences, anxiety, emotional regulation.