A Review of the Relationship Between Social Media Use and Online Prosocial Behavior Among Adolescents

Christoffer Lysenstøen; Tormod Bøe; Gunnhild Johnsen Hjetland; Jens Christoffer Skogen

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2021.579347

A Review of the Relationship Between Social Media Use and Online Prosocial Behavior Among Adolescents

Front Psychol. 2021 Sep 28:12:579347. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.579347. eCollection 2021.

Authors

Christoffer Lysenstøen¹, Tormod Bøe^{1

2}, Gunnhild Johnsen Hjetland^{3

4}, Jens Christoffer Skogen^{4

5

6}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Psychosocial Science, Faculty of Psychology, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway.
² Regional Centre for Child and Youth Mental Health and Child Welfare, NORCE Norwegian Research Centre, Bergen, Norway.
³ Department of Clinical Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway.
⁴ Department of Health Promotion, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Bergen, Norway.
⁵ Alcohol & Drug Research Western Norway, Stavanger University Hospital, Stavanger, Norway.
⁶ Department of Public Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Stavanger, Stavanger, Norway.

Abstract

Social media (SoMe) activity constitutes a large part of the lives of adolescents. Even though the behavior on SoMe is complex, the research on SoMe has mostly focused on negative effects, bad content, and online antisocial behavior (OAB). Less research has been conducted on online prosocial behavior (OPB), and to what extent OPBs are widespread is relatively unknown. A review was conducted to investigate to what extent OPB is related to SoMe use among adolescents based on studies published from 2014 to May 2021. To be included, the studies had to be quantitative, non-experimental, have participants aged 13-18, include measures of SoMe and OPB, and be published in peer-reviewed journals with full text available in English, Swedish, Danish or Norwegian. A research was conducted in databases PsychINFO, Ovid MEDLINE(R), EMBASE, COCHRANE Database of Systematic Reviews, Web of Science, Sociological Abstracts, Sociological Services Abstracts, and Eric. Two studies met the eligibility criteria. Both studies found an association between OPB and SoMe use. Methodological issues, however, were identified through a quality assessment using an adapted version of the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale (NOS) for cross-sectional studies, and the small samples in the studies prevent us from drawing any firm conclusions. Possible reasons for the scarcity of eligible studies and directions for future research are discussed. Systematic Review Registration: PROSPERO; ID CRD42020162161 and CRISTIN; ID 2038994.

Keywords: Newcastle-Ottawa scale; adolescents; online prosocial behavior; social media; systematic review.

Publication types

Systematic Review