Positive digital communication among youth: The development and validation of the digital flourishing scale for adolescents
Research has extensively studied the negative effects of digital communication on adolescents’ well-being. However, positive digital experiences and behavior in adolescence are still poorly understood. The recently developed Digital Flourishing Scale addresses this gap and focuses on the positive pe...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Frontiers Media S.A.
2022-09-01
|
| Series: | Frontiers in Digital Health |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fdgth.2022.975557/full |
| _version_ | 1811188122883457024 |
|---|---|
| author | Jasmina Rosič Sophie H. Janicke-Bowles Luca Carbone Bojana Lobe Laura Vandenbosch |
| author_facet | Jasmina Rosič Sophie H. Janicke-Bowles Luca Carbone Bojana Lobe Laura Vandenbosch |
| author_sort | Jasmina Rosič |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Research has extensively studied the negative effects of digital communication on adolescents’ well-being. However, positive digital experiences and behavior in adolescence are still poorly understood. The recently developed Digital Flourishing Scale addresses this gap and focuses on the positive perceptions of a user’s experiences and behaviors in digital communication among adults. In this paper, we developed an adolescent version of this scale. Study 1 demonstrated the internal consistency of the scale and the same factor structure for adolescence as for adulthood: connectedness, civil participation, positive social comparison, authentic self-presentation, and self-control. Study 2 confirmed the identified factor structure with a second sample of adolescents and established measurement invariance across genders. The construct validity of the scale was confirmed by investigating associations with related constructs, including the basic psychological needs from self-determination theory (competence, autonomy, and relatedness), secure attachment to a close friend, Internet aggression, social media-induced inspiration, authenticity of posted positive content, and social media self-control failure. The results indicated that not all adolescents flourish equally online. Differences occurred depending on the adolescents’ gender and socioeconomic status. The paper concludes that the newly developed scale is a valid and reliable measure for assessing adolescents’ perceptions of digital thriving and digital empowerment. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-11T14:14:11Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-f968a8a83455427c860df4695eef891b |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2673-253X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-11T14:14:11Z |
| publishDate | 2022-09-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Digital Health |
| spelling | doaj.art-f968a8a83455427c860df4695eef891b2022-12-22T04:19:36ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Digital Health2673-253X2022-09-01410.3389/fdgth.2022.975557975557Positive digital communication among youth: The development and validation of the digital flourishing scale for adolescentsJasmina Rosič0Sophie H. Janicke-Bowles1Luca Carbone2Bojana Lobe3Laura Vandenbosch4School for Mass Communication Research, Faculty of Social Sciences, KU Leuven, Leuven, BelgiumSchool of Communication Research, Chapman University, Orange, California, United StatesSchool for Mass Communication Research, Faculty of Social Sciences, KU Leuven, Leuven, BelgiumCenter for Methodology and Informatics, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Ljubljana, Ljubljana, SloveniaSchool for Mass Communication Research, Faculty of Social Sciences, KU Leuven, Leuven, BelgiumResearch has extensively studied the negative effects of digital communication on adolescents’ well-being. However, positive digital experiences and behavior in adolescence are still poorly understood. The recently developed Digital Flourishing Scale addresses this gap and focuses on the positive perceptions of a user’s experiences and behaviors in digital communication among adults. In this paper, we developed an adolescent version of this scale. Study 1 demonstrated the internal consistency of the scale and the same factor structure for adolescence as for adulthood: connectedness, civil participation, positive social comparison, authentic self-presentation, and self-control. Study 2 confirmed the identified factor structure with a second sample of adolescents and established measurement invariance across genders. The construct validity of the scale was confirmed by investigating associations with related constructs, including the basic psychological needs from self-determination theory (competence, autonomy, and relatedness), secure attachment to a close friend, Internet aggression, social media-induced inspiration, authenticity of posted positive content, and social media self-control failure. The results indicated that not all adolescents flourish equally online. Differences occurred depending on the adolescents’ gender and socioeconomic status. The paper concludes that the newly developed scale is a valid and reliable measure for assessing adolescents’ perceptions of digital thriving and digital empowerment.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fdgth.2022.975557/fullscale developmentdigital flourishingdigital communicationpositive media psychologywell-beingadolescents |
| spellingShingle | Jasmina Rosič Sophie H. Janicke-Bowles Luca Carbone Bojana Lobe Laura Vandenbosch Positive digital communication among youth: The development and validation of the digital flourishing scale for adolescents Frontiers in Digital Health scale development digital flourishing digital communication positive media psychology well-being adolescents |
| title | Positive digital communication among youth: The development and validation of the digital flourishing scale for adolescents |
| title_full | Positive digital communication among youth: The development and validation of the digital flourishing scale for adolescents |
| title_fullStr | Positive digital communication among youth: The development and validation of the digital flourishing scale for adolescents |
| title_full_unstemmed | Positive digital communication among youth: The development and validation of the digital flourishing scale for adolescents |
| title_short | Positive digital communication among youth: The development and validation of the digital flourishing scale for adolescents |
| title_sort | positive digital communication among youth the development and validation of the digital flourishing scale for adolescents |
| topic | scale development digital flourishing digital communication positive media psychology well-being adolescents |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fdgth.2022.975557/full |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT jasminarosic positivedigitalcommunicationamongyouththedevelopmentandvalidationofthedigitalflourishingscaleforadolescents AT sophiehjanickebowles positivedigitalcommunicationamongyouththedevelopmentandvalidationofthedigitalflourishingscaleforadolescents AT lucacarbone positivedigitalcommunicationamongyouththedevelopmentandvalidationofthedigitalflourishingscaleforadolescents AT bojanalobe positivedigitalcommunicationamongyouththedevelopmentandvalidationofthedigitalflourishingscaleforadolescents AT lauravandenbosch positivedigitalcommunicationamongyouththedevelopmentandvalidationofthedigitalflourishingscaleforadolescents |