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New analysis from The College of Texas at Arlington reveals that social media platforms can play a doubtlessly life-saving position for younger individuals navigating troublesome circumstances at dwelling.
UT Arlington social work assistant professor Morgan PettyJohn led a examine that discovered that many younger adults who skilled youngster abuse and neglect relied on social media to deal with trauma, entry info and join with others.
“There’s so much being talked about right now with youth and social media, and it’s largely being talked about in a very negative light,” stated Dr. PettyJohn, whose examine was revealed within the Journal of Household Violence. “But there are many benefits that kids are using these sites for too—for information-seeking, for connecting, for providing mutual support to one another.”
For the examine, the analysis workforce first surveyed 641 younger adults aged 18 to 21 throughout the US. Roughly 30%—196 individuals—reported experiencing youngster maltreatment. Greater than half of that group—111 people—responded that that they had posted or mentioned their experiences with abuse or neglect on a social media platform, with most of those disclosures occurring on platforms that enable for personal or direct messaging with different customers.
The analysis workforce then performed in-depth interviews with 23 of these people. Most of them stated that previous to disclosing their very own previous experiences with abuse or neglect on social media platforms, they discovered that social media content material helped them acknowledge that their experiences weren’t regular—and motivated them to hunt assist.
“I was born into (the abuse), right? So this was my normal, this was my everyday,” one participant defined. “The one indication that I had that one thing wasn’t proper was my emotions. And the extra that I began to become old, the extra that I began to listen to different individuals’s experiences.
“I went, ‘Oh, something about this that I grew up with, I don’t think that’s normal.’ And I feel like (social media channels) helped me kind of understand that a little bit better because that was the hardest part for me, to realize that this wasn’t normal.”
Digital areas offered individuals with a way of security, permitting them to attach with others who had endured comparable experiences. One participant described their on-line group as individuals “who make us feel happy and heard and engaged.” One other stated these connections with others have been “so deep in helping me that if I couldn’t talk to them anymore, I probably would not have made it out.”
The analysis additionally highlighted the sensible causes younger adults flip to social platforms. Social media is commonly extra accessible than in-person providers resulting from value, comfort, and authorized restrictions on what assets younger individuals can entry with out parental involvement.
Many individuals additionally valued the power to stay nameless when opening up about traumatic experiences. Obligatory reporting necessities have been often cited as a cause some selected to not search in-person assist resembling faculty counselors, fearing the lack of management over what would occur subsequent.
“They feel more comfortable talking about hard things through their devices, and they want the option for anonymity,” PettyJohn stated.
The examine’s findings present a extra nuanced have a look at social media going ahead. As a substitute of focusing solely on how a lot time younger individuals spend on-line, extra consideration needs to be given to how younger persons are utilizing digital areas, PettyJohn stated.
“We’re not saying there are no risks because there certainly are,” she stated. “But our research shows that instead of simply discouraging social media use, we need to think more about how online spaces can be designed to be safe and appropriate for youth to use.”
Extra info:
Morgan E. PettyJohn et al, “It was an Outlet When I Needed it”: Exploring Youth Motivations and Experiences Disclosing Youngster Maltreatment on Social Media, Journal of Household Violence (2025). DOI: 10.1007/s10896-025-00917-x
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How social media might help abuse survivors heal (2025, July 21)
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