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The occurrence of the novel coronavirus necessitates a better understanding of how romantic partners use social technology to cope with health stressors. This exploratory study, therefore, examined whether COVID-related health concerns regarding oneself or one’s romantic partner before/during quarantine predict, or are predicted by, emerging adults’ engagement in social media surveillance of their romantic partner. Participants ( N = 181 emerging adults in a romantic relationship) responded to online surveys at two points during spring 2020. Findings from a cross-lagged analysis indicate that COVID-related health concerns for oneself before stay-at-home orders predicted emerging adult’s participation in social media surveillance of a romantic partner during COVID quarantine. This study serves as an initial inquiry into how health-related concerns impact technology use in romantic relationships and how they serve to modify digital participation during a global crisis (i.e., the COVID-19 pandemic). Limitations, future research directions, and implications of the study are discussed.

We investigated how stereotypical portrayals of Latino/a characters on television influence Latino/a emerging adults’ ( N = 136; ages 18–25) state self-esteem (i.e., social, appearance, and performance) while examining the moderating role of ethnic–racial identity (i.e., centrality). Latino/as from across the United States were randomly sorted into one of two conditions (exposure to stereotypes or not) and completed measures of ethnic–racial identity and state self-esteem. When not exposed to stereotypes, participants with higher ethnic–racial identity had higher social self-esteem. However, when exposed to stereotypes, Latino/a participants with higher ethnic–racial identity had significantly lower social self-esteem. This finding matches previous research on the role of social identity in stereotype threat, which found that those who more strongly identified with a stereotyped group were more negatively impacted by stereotypes of that group. However, in situations without stereotypes present, stronger ethnic–racial identity is connected to well-being.

A long line of research with traditional media and more current work with new media have found that media impact people in various ways depending on who they are and their past experiences. Traditional media theories, such as cultivation hypothesis, have focused attention on the amount of exposure to media content as key to the impact this content has. Exposure to media is connected to access, availability, and preference of media and technology. Research using social cognitive theory has determined that these preferences are influenced by culture and context, including ethnicity and race. In turn, these identities impact how media influence individuals. Although the media divide has decreased as technology becomes more affordable, there are still ethnic differences in the ownership and access to various media technologies. For example, Asian Americans have access to the most devices while Latinxs and African Americans are more reliant on their smartphones. There are also ethnic differences in terms of the hours spent consuming media, with African American audience members being some of the heaviest consumers. Studies have found that audience members, especially Latinxs and African Americans, prefer to consume media that reflect their ethnic group. This is easier said than done for some groups, especially Latinxs, Asian Americans, and Native Americans who tend to be underrepresented and sometimes invisible in mainstream U.S. media.

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