How are social media engagement and sociocultural factors related to early adolescents’ physical activity and sleep behaviors

Abstract: The current study adds to the literature by examining the impact of adolescents’ social media use and motivation for social media use on physical activity and sleep. In addition, we examine the contribution of other types of media use (i.e., TV use) to determine its relative impact on youth health outcomes. We conducted anational cross-sectional survey from June 2-11, 2015. The survey assessed early adolescents’ (6th-8thgrades) use of social media,physical activity, and sleep behaviors. Overall, respondents indicated a low level of physical activity (M=1.73; SD=0.68) and insufficient rest or sleep on an average of 2.87 days (SD=2.04) in the pastweek. Findings indicate a significant positive relationship between social media use (β=0.45, p<0.05) and perceived insufficient rest or sleep. Weinclude additional analyses that compare the effects of traditional television viewing on these health behaviors and seek to determine whether other factors, such as motivation and parental mediation appear to have an effect on social media’s impact on sleep and physical activity.