Motives for using Facebook, patterns of Facebook activities, and late adolescents' social adjustment to college.
Previous studies have confirmed that Facebook, the leading social networking site among young people, facilitates social connections among college students, but the specific activities and motives that foster social adjustment remain unclear. This study examined associations between patterns of Facebook activity, motives for using Facebook, and late adolescents' social adjustment to the college environment. Anonymous self-report survey data from 193 mostly European American students (M age = 20.32; 54 % female) attending a major Midwestern university indicated that motives and activity patterns were associated directly with social adjustment, but the association between one activity, status updating, and social adjustment also was moderated by the motive of relationship maintenance. Findings provide a more comprehensive portrait of how Facebook use may foster or inhibit social adjustment in college.
Department of Educational Psychology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53706, USA. cyang33@wisc.edu
Chia-chen
CC
Yang
B Bradford
BB
Brown
D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior; D000328:Adult; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005163:Factor Analysis, Statistical; D005260:Female; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D015146:Midwestern United States; D009042:Motivation; D025341:Principal Component Analysis; D012044:Regression Analysis; D057566:Self Report; D012917:Social Adjustment; D061108:Social Media / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology*; D014495:Universities; D055815:Young Adult