STRESS OCH SOCIALA MEDIER : En kvantitativ studie om sociala medievanor och stress bland ungdomar i Västmanland.

Sammanfattning: Background: In recent years, the mental health has decreased among adolescents. They experience stress, and this is especially most evident amongst girls in school age. The usage of internet and social media has increased since the beginning of the twenty-first century. There are previous studies proving that social media have a profound impact on individuals. Research shows that social media creates an unhealthy comparison between individuals resulting in skewed norms and the phenomena of cyberbullying is increasing. Other studies indicate that people experience it as stressful to constantly be connected. However, research has also showed that social media increases globalization as well as access to a new social context for individuals. Aim: To investigate the occurrence and correlation between social media use and stress, the occurrence and connection of violations on social media and stress and whether there are differences in gender in social media habits and stress among adolescents in Västmanland. Method: Quantitative method with cross-sectional design was used to analyze the occurrence and correlation between adolescent’s social media habits and stress. This study is based on data from the Survey of “Adolescent Life in Västmanland - 2017” which included 3951 students from the 9th grade of primary school and 2nd in high school. Results: The results of this study show there is stress among adolescents, use of social medias and cyberbullying occur. There is a correlation between social media use and stress. Adolescents who use social media one or more times an hour are also “quite” or “very “stressed. Adolescents who experienced cyberbullying are more likely to be “quite” or “very” stressed. There occurs a difference in gender between adolescents that use social medias one or more times an hour. Girls use social media more frequently than boys. There are also difference in gender regarding stress, girls are more likely to be “quite” or “very” stressed. Conclusions: A correlation can be found between high-frequency social media use and adolescents who are quite or very stressed. There is also a correlation between adolescents who experience cyberbullying and adolescents who are quite or very stressed. There different reasons for that, but subjective standards that require constant connection, an unhealthy comparison between individuals and different ruling techniques online are factors that influence.