Factors involved in associations between Facebook use and college adjustment: Social competence, perceived usefulness, and use patterns

• Published in: Computers in human behavior Vol. 46; pp. 245 - 253
• Main Authors: Yang, Chia-chen, Brown, B. Bradford
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Ltd 01-05-2015
• Subjects: Adjustment; College adjustment; College Students; Colleges; Digital media; Females; Mass Media; Mass Media Effects; Mathematical models; Media; Online communication; Perception; Perceptions; Social Competence; Social media; Social networking site; Social networks; Students; Technology acceptance; Well Being; Youth; Online communication; Technology acceptance; Social networking site; College adjustment; Social media; Social competence
• ISSN: 0747-5632; 1873-7692
• DOI: 10.1016/j.chb.2015.01.015

•Perception & use of Facebook (FB) mediate the social competence-college adjustment tie.•1st-level mediators: perceived FB usefulness to (a) maintain (b) pursue relationships.•2nd-level mediators: FB time; FB interaction with (a) on-campus friends (b) strangers.
Although previous research has investigated widespread use of social media, especially Facebook, by youth attending college, the conditions under which these media foster adjustment to college remain unclear. This study tested a model illuminating pathways linking social competence to college adjustment via students’ perceptions about the usefulness of Facebook and ways in which they used the medium. Self-report survey data from 321 college students (M age=20.09; 58% female; 84% Caucasian) attending a major Midwestern university supported the proposed model, indicating that higher social competence could foster or impede college adjustment, depending upon how it was related to beliefs about the usefulness of different Facebook functions and how these perceptions, in turn, were associated with patterns of Facebook use. Findings underscore the importance of considering connections among personal attributes, perception of media effectiveness, and media behaviors in assessing the implications of social media for users’ psychosocial well-being.