Explaining variation in adolescents' social media-related distraction: The role of social connectivity and disconnectivity factors

Social media are often believed to challenge adolescents’ ability to focus and sustain attention. While existing research has shown that some adolescents experience more social media-related distraction than others, the explanations for these differences remain largely unknown. The current study investigated two social connectivity factors (fear of missing out [FoMO] and friendship accessibility expectations) and two disconnectivity factors (self-control strategies and parental control strategies) that may explain differences in social media-related distraction. Using a three-week experience sampling study (N = 300; 21,970 within-person assessments), we found that the vast majority of adolescents (77%) experienced social media-related distraction. Contrary to expectations, none of the connectivity and disconnectivity factors explained differences in social media-related distraction. However, adolescents with high FoMO and friendship accessibility expectations spent more time using social media and were more distracted. Conversely, adolescents who more often used self-control strategies were less distracted. Altogether, the findings indicate that social media are a powerful distractor most adolescents seem to struggle with.