Journal article 73 views 7 downloads
Social media dependency, depression and self-esteem for Cymraeg and English-speaking adolescents
Behaviour & Information Technology, Pages: 1 - 14
Swansea University Authors:
RICHARD JONES, Irene Reppa , Phil Reed
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© 2025 The Author(s). This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC-BY 4.0).
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DOI (Published version): 10.1080/0144929x.2025.2455395
Abstract
The current study examined the effects of speaking a minority language (i.e. speaking the Welsh language in Wales) on the relationship between social media usage, social media dependency [SMD], depression and self-esteem for adolescents using both cross-sectional and longitudinal designs. 1709 pupil...
Published in: | Behaviour & Information Technology |
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ISSN: | 0144-929X 1362-3001 |
Published: |
Informa UK Limited
2025
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Online Access: |
Check full text
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URI: | https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa68677 |
Abstract: |
The current study examined the effects of speaking a minority language (i.e. speaking the Welsh language in Wales) on the relationship between social media usage, social media dependency [SMD], depression and self-esteem for adolescents using both cross-sectional and longitudinal designs. 1709 pupils (844 primary Cymraeg-speakers [i.e. people who primarily speak the Welsh language]; 865 primary English-speakers) at secondary schools in Wales were compared. Moderation analysis found depression exerted a stronger influence upon the relationship between social media usage and self-esteem for primary Cymraeg-speakers than for primary English-speakers. A longitudinal analysis over 9 months found the association between earlier SMD and later worse self-esteem was greater than that between earlier lower self-esteem and later SMD for primary Cymraeg-speakers, which was true for lower-depressed and higher-depressed participants. However, for English-speakers, earlier lower self-esteem was related to later greater SMD for lower-depressed participants. For higher-depressed primary English-speakers, this pattern became more pronounced, and there was a positive relationship between earlier SMD and later self-esteem. Implications are discussed within a linguistic context. |
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Keywords: |
Self-esteem; social media dependency; minority language; Welsh; depression; longitudinal |
College: |
Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences |
Funders: |
Swansea University |
Start Page: |
1 |
End Page: |
14 |