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Title of Systematic Narrative
Review
Motivations associated with Young
People's use of Social Media
Abstract
Context:
Studies related to motivations associated with young peoples' use of social
media are reviewed and synthesised. The review focuses on potentially
detrimental to mental health issues arising from communications within digital
spaces, for example using Facebook®
or other popular apps.
Methods employed in the review:
Fifteen international peer-reviewed publications, written in English and covering
the period 2010 to 2022 were extracted from the following databases:
• Applied Social Sciences Index and Abstracts (ASSIA);
• Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL);
• Social Care Online;
• Social Services Abstracts; and,
• PsycInfo.
These publications formed the Systematic Narrative Review.
Three concept groups; "motivation" and "social media" and "young people"
provided the basis for publication selection, with articles involving comorbidities
excluded. The concept terms were expanded with a number of relevant key
words to form the expanded search strategy.
Findings:
Today, cyberspace activities are ubiquitous in society, with myriad private,
commercial and educational opportunities at our fingertips. The need to
acknowledge the existence of problems arising from precarious practices when
using social media is timely, especially given the adoption rate of the
technology by young people. A broad range of relevant research is available to
inform the safeguarding and wellbeing of our adolescent population, identifying
behavioural and social aspects relevant to adolescent psychological
development.