The study covered in this summary was published in Research Square as a preprint and has not yet been peer reviewed.
Key Takeaways
A high focus on self-presentation was associated with female gender, higher extraversion, lower emotional stability, more frequent alcohol consumption, and having tried tobacco.
Given the association of aspects of self-presentation with negative mental health outcomes shown in previous research, efforts to reduce focus on self-presentation could be warranted.
Further work is needed to assess how focus on self-presentation is related to important outcomes for adolescents, such as mental health, satisfaction with life, and educational attainment.
Why This Matters
There is a growing literature on the potential consequences of adolescents' use of social media.
Self-presentation on social media, which is motivated by getting positive feedback, referred to as feedback-seeking or status-seeking, has been associated with negative outcomes, such as depressive symptoms, lower body satisfaction, and lower well-being.
Feedback-seeking has also been reported to be associated with lifestyle factors such as substance abuse and sexual risk behavior.
Study Design
The study was based on a cross-sectional survey conducted in Bergen, Norway, and included 2023 senior high school pupils (response rate, 54%; mean age, 17.4 years; 44% males).
Nine self-presentation items were assessed using factor analysis, and latent class analysis was used to identify latent classes with distinct patterns of responses across the seven retained items.
