A Mindfulness-Based Intervention for Adolescent Social Media Users: A Quasi-Experimental Study

ABSTRACT

Adolescents today have never known a world without the internet and social media. Therefore, it is crucial to help adolescents develop healthy social media practices and address problematic use. In this quasi-experimental design study, the authors focused on examining whether a difference existed in problematic social media use (PSMU), fear of missing out (FOMO), mindful attention, and life satisfaction among adolescents (n = 54) that complete a five-week, mindfulness-based intervention (i.e. Mindful Connections) compared to those who did not. Participants were students at one high school in the Southeastern region of the United States. A statistically significant difference existed between the intervention and control groups in PSMU, F(2, 52) = 6.018, p < .05, and mindful attention, F(2, 52) = 4.65, p < .05. However, a statistically significant difference did not exist between the groups in FOMO, F(2, 52) = 3.343, p = .828, or life satisfaction, F(2, 52) = 1.754, p = .191, with both the intervention and control groups having lower scores of FOMO and life satisfaction after the intervention. The results are promising for using a mindfulness-based intervention to address dysregulation and problematic social media use and encourage mindful attention and healthy use. More research is needed regarding this area of study, as this study is the first study focused on examining the Mindful Connections curriculum.

KEYWORDS:

• adolescent
• social media
• mindfulness
• fear of missing out

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Ethics approval

This article is based on the first author’s dissertation. The study received IRB approval from the University of Florida.