Framing Peer Relationships on Social Media: Individual and Contextual Factors of Perceived Friendship Quality Among Adolescents

Over the past two decades, the rapid diffusion of social media has heightened concerns that social media platforms may contribute to significant mental health issues among youth. However, most of previous research is inconclusive and has lacked an up-to-date, unifying theoretical model to understand how online interactions may impact traditional peer relations during adolescence. Since social media use has become central for adolescents’ lives, a more nuanced approach to the changes introduced by social media is needed, so that the focus on both individual and contextual variables may help explaining contemporary adolescents’ experiences (Odger & Jensen, 2020; Prinstein et al., 2020). To contribute filling this gap, Nesi and colleagues (2018a, 2018b) have introduced the so-called “Transformation Framework”, which has represented a critical turning point in the study of peer relationships on social media. According to the authors, the seven features that contribute to the definition of social media as a social context (i.e., asynchronicity, permanence, publicness, availability, cue absence, quantifiability, visualness) would transform the way adolescents interact with peers, creating unique experiences and expectations that were unthinkable a few years ago. The present research project was designed in line with the tenets of this theoretical framework and specifically focused on adolescents’ friendship relationships. In this regard, there is still scant research that analyzes how adolescents’ social media use to connect and communicate with friends is associated with the quality of their friendship experiences. Even less is known about whether the specific features that characterize social media as a socialization context are differently associated with the six dimensions of friendship quality both online and offline (i.e., validation, intimacy, instrumental support, companionship, conflict, and conflict resolution; Parker & Asher, 1993; Yau & Reich, 2017). This dissertation reports the results of three studies, which follow a progression from an explorative design to a more in-depth investigation of the dynamic of friendships within the context of social media, while considering both individual (i.e., perceived support and expression of emotions) and contextual factors (i.e., perceived social media context and friends’ norms about social media use). Additionally, a general aim of the three studies was to investigate whether gender may play a role in the tested associations. Prior to addressing specific questions and hypotheses, a preliminary purpose of the current research was to contribute filling the gap about the lack of a proper measure for the perceived presence of the seven social media features, by introducing the new Perceived Social Media Features Scale (PSMF). Overall, the main findings from this dissertation emphasized the need for a more balanced perspective on adolescents’ use of social media, and shed light on the role of social media, as a perceived social context, in transforming adolescents’ online experiences with their friends, that may turn out to benefit (i.e., higher perceived quality of friendships) or hinder (i.e., higher levels of conflicts) their friendship relationships. Therefore, by moving beyond the dichotomy of social media being ‘good’ or ‘bad’ for relational well-being, the present research project adds to the growing body of literature by supporting the importance of integrating both perspectives to fully understand the neutral role of social media, as a social context, in transforming contemporary peer relationships. Taken together, findings from this dissertation provide important implications for prevention and intervention programs with adolescents, and offer valuable insight for new research questions in the field of adolescents’ peer relationships within the social context of social media.