RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE USAGE OF SOCIAL NETWORKS, SELF- ESTEEM AND AUXIETY IN ADOLESCENTS

Društvene mreže postale su neizostavan dio života adolescenata te u velikoj mjeri utječu na njihovo ponašanje, navike i sliku o sebi. Isprepletenost više aspekata svakodnevnog života sa učestalim korištenjem online servisa utječe na mentalno zdravlje mladih, iako oni toga možda i nisu svjesni. Ovisnost o korištenju društvenih mreža, poremećena pažnja, uspoređivanje vlastitog životima s tuđima prezentiranim u online svijetu, samo su neki od problema s kojima se mladi suočavaju. Adolescenti, u razvojnom periodu tijekom srednje škole, traže načine za formiranje i iskazivanje vlastitog identiteta i samostalnosti, a jedan od alata koji im to omogućuje je i online servis. S obzirom na to da srednjoškolci pripadaju dobnoj skupini koja sve češće ne može zamisliti svoj život bez društvenih mreža (posebice Instragrama, TikToka i Snapchata), ali i bez tehnologije općenito, ovaj se rad usmjerio upravo na tu dobnu skupinu. Također, istraživanja posljednjih nekoliko godina bilježe porast razine anksioznosti (McCarthy, 2019) te narušeno samopoštovanje kod mladih (Nguyen, Wright, Dedding, Pham i Bunders, 2019) stoga su se u ovom radu, na uzorku srednjoškolaca, provjeravale navike vezane uz korištenje društvenih mreža te njihovu povezanost s anksioznosti i samopoštovanjem.Social networks have become an indispensable part of adolescents' lives and accordingly influence their behavior, habits and self-image. The intertwining which happens between everyday life and being constantly present in the online sphere leaves a mark on the mental health of young people, whether they are aware of it or not. Addictive usage of social networks, impaired attention and comparing one's own life with the lives of others, presented in the online world, are just some of the phenomena that impact the young minds. Adolescents, in the developmental period of high school, are looking for ways to form and express their own identity and independence, and one of the tools that allows them to do so is the online world. Given that high school students belong to an age group that can no longer imagine their lives without social networks (especially Instagram, TikTok and Snapchat), but also without technology in general, this work focused on that particular age group. Also, research over the past few years has recorded both an increase in anxiety (McCarthy, 2019) and impaired self-esteem in young people (Nguyen, Wright, Dedding, Pham i Bunders, 2019), therefore this paper researched habits revolving around the use of social networks, anxiety and self-esteem in a sample of high school students