Session C: 1:45PM – 3:15PM
Social Sciences. Session C – Poster Presentations, Ballroom, Union
SESSION C (1:45-3:15PM)
Location:Ballroom, A. Ray Olpin University Union
“Where I Can Be Myself”: Social media and mental health in transgender and non-binary adolescents.
Seth Ririe, Brigham Young University
Kennedy Banks, Brigham Young University
Allison Weston, Brigham Young University
Faculty Mentor: Sarah Coyne, Brigham Young University
SESSION C (1:45-3:15PM)
POSTER C30
The current study utilizes a risk and resilience approach to examine contexts of social media use on mental health among transgender, gender non-binary and cisgender adolescents. Participants included 1,231 adolescents (ages 10-17 years old) from a national quota sample from the United States (55% of the sample identified as female, 39% as male and 6% as transgender, non-binary, or other (TGNB)). In terms of race/ethnicity, 57% identified as White, 15% as Black, 9% as Asian, .3% as American Indian/Alaska Native, 15% as Hispanic/Latin, .1% as Pacific Islander, and 3.3% as mixed or other race/ethnicity. Each completed a series of online questionnaires asking about multiple contexts around social media use (time, type of use, favorite site, social comparisons, mindfulness, taking intentional breaks, cleaning and curating feeds, problematic use, and media literacy programs at their school) and mental health (depression, emotional problems, conduct problems, and body image). There was no association between time spent on social media and any developmental outcome for adolescents in our sample. However, the context of social media use was associated with adolescent mental health, often depending on gender identity. For example, active social media use was highly protective for TGNB youth as was cleaning/curating social media feeds, compared to cisgender adolescents. However, taking intentional breaks from social media was related to worse mental health for TGNB youth, but better mental health for cisgender adolescents. Results were discussed with a focus group of gender diverse adolescents. Implications for youth, parents, educators, and policy makers are discussed.
Effects of Resilience on HRV Following a Stressor
Jared Newton, Brigham Young University
Joseph Rees, Brigham Young University
Matthew Grendell, Brigham Young University
Julia Elmer, Brigham Young University
Faculty Mentor: Patrick Steffen, Brigham Young University
SESSION C (1:45-3:15PM)
POSTER C32
Background. Over the last 30 years, there has been an increase in stress as stressor prevalence and severity has risen (Almeida et al., 2020). This is critical due to the detrimental effects that stress can have on individuals’ physical health (Rawson et al., 1994) and mental health (Snyder et al., 2019). When studying stress, researchers often use heart rate variability (HRV) because it has been established as a measurement of one’s ability to adapt to stressful stimuli (Rajendra Acharya et al., 2006). In addition, high HRV has al