The role of Social Networking Site use in feelings of belonging among 9 to 13 year olds

Although younger adolescents are increasingly using Social Networking Sites (SNSs) there is little research involving their use of these sites and the possible positive outcomes from their use. There is some evidence that parenting strategies may limit access to the social platforms of the internet. To date, these two concepts have not been examined within the context of each other and thus the indirect effect of parenting strategies on social psychological outcomes has not been measured. This thesis aims to do that by testing a model which predicts that parental perceptions of SNSs are related to SNS use and parenting strategies; parenting strategies are related to SNS use; and SNS use is positively related to feelings of belonging.
Although no causal effects were found in Study 1, it demonstrated a concurrent relationship between SNS use and belonging. The following studies examined different parts of the model using cross-sectional data. Study 2 showed support for a positive link between SNS use and belonging but for boys only. In addition, it found that higher levels of control strategies were related to less intensive use of SNSs. Study 3 found that using a mobile device to access SNSs (versus a fixed device) was positively related to feelings of belonging (being partially mediated by frequency of use). Study 4 found that perceptions of benefits were positively related to warmth strategies as well as SNS use but perceptions of risk were not related to either SNS use or parenting strategies. Higher levels of control strategies were related to non-use of SNSs.
Overall, the results presented in this thesis show some support for the hypothesised model. The evidence suggests that perceptions of benefits are related to SNS use and warmth strategies; and control strategies are negatively related to SNS use. SNS use was found to be positively related to feelings of belonging. However, no direct causal relationships were able to be demonstrated and thus conclusions based on cause and effect relationships cannot be made. Although this thesis showed that these sites may be an important social tool, possible mediating factors as well as the inclusion of other factors in the model should be considered in future research.