Exploring the Impacts of Social Media Use on Young Adults' Self-Esteem and Perceived Impact on Psychological Diagnoses or Emotional Disturbance Eligibility

The impacts of emerging adults' social media use have been shown as generally negative, especially in decreasing their self-esteem and self-concept and increasing anxiety, depression, and more. Although there is research on social media's impact on various communities of adolescents and young adults, limited research has focused on this effect for young adults with mental health diagnoses or served under IDEA's emotional disturbance eligibility criteria. Additionally, no research has studied this topic during the COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, the purpose of the current study is to examine how various types of social media use impact young adults' self-esteem, including those who are psychologically vulnerable. Participants included 119 individuals, 18 to 19-years of age, with and without mental health diagnoses or Emotional Disturbance special education eligibility recruited utilizing social media pages and social media hashtags. Participating individuals answered demographic and social media use questions and completed the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale to provide information about self-esteem. Additionally, participants responded to questions regarding what role they feel social media use has had on their mental health, including contribution to or exacerbating their symptoms. Univariate statistics were run to control demographic factors and determine the percentage of participants who believe social media has negatively affected their mental health. Multiple regression analyzed if time spent on social media or specific social media platform or activities were predictive of participant self-esteem. Limitations and implications are discussed