Digital stress is believed to play a role in the association between social media use and psychosocial outcomes. However, the literature is limited by a lack of measures that conform to published theoretical models of the construct. The present investigation details the development of a new multidimensional measure of digital stress. Based on an earlier conceptualization of Digital Stress (Steele et al., 2020), Study 1 identified items from extant measures of digital stress, conducted a qualitative review of the literature to compose new items, and conducted focus groups with young adults and adolescents (N = 23) to improve item wording and interpretation. Study 2 conducted an exploratory factor analysis (EFA) of items with a young adult sample (N = 247) collected online, yielding support for four hypothesized factors (i.e., availability stress, approval anxiety, fear of missing out [FoMO], and connection overload) plus one unanticipated factor (i.e., online vigilance). In Study 3, college students (N = 174) completed paper-and-pencil surveys, and EFA results showed a similar structure as detected in Study 2. In Study 4, confirmatory factor analysis examining the five-factor model was conducted on data from adolescents (N = 163) and college students (N = 152). These procedures yielded 24 items measuring 5 components of digital stress: availability stress, approval anxiety, FoMO, connection overload, and online vigilance. Associations between digital stress and psychosocial distress and functioning are reported to demonstrate convergent and divergent validity. Public Significance StatementSocial and mobile media use has been linked to negative psychological outcomes for adolescent and young adults, and digital stress has been proposed as a mediator of the relationship between media use and negative outcomes. This investigation documents the development and initial examination of a new measure of digital stress. Results indicate that digital stress comprises five components which are differentially associated with self-reported anxiety, depression, stress, and social functioning in young adults and adolescents.

On Twitch.tv, the gaming-oriented live streaming platform, users interact by sharing and viewing gameplay and participating in live chats. Negativity in online gaming is often explored on a large scale using broad categories. This study offers a nuanced look at Twitch.tv communities dedicated to the Dark Souls game series to examine the descriptive and injunctive community norms surrounding both aggressive negativity and ambiguous negativity, which involves interactions where the valence is not obvious and must be interpreted based on community-specific meanings and rules. This study systematically analyzed excerpts of chats and stream recordings of 22 live streamed sessions. It found ambiguous negativity was prevalent in cases of cursing, game jargon, banter, spam, and sarcasm. Aggressive negativity was rare but manifested in exclusionary language and banter gone too far. The response of community members and collective acceptance or rejection of such negativity was not clearly defined.

Framed by need to belong theory, this study considers the role of communication modality, geographic proximity, and the number of close relationship partners to predict life satisfaction and loneliness. A quota sample of American adults (N = 1,869) completed four name generation tasks to identify up to 16 alters, resulting in four alters per participant (n = 7,471). Participants reported the frequency with which they communicated with each alter in the past year in person and through eight interpersonal media. Results suggest that number of relationship partners and frequency of face-to-face interaction were robust predictors of life satisfaction and loneliness. Those living alone faced significant threats to well-being. Video chat and voice call frequency were also associated with greater life satisfaction. Mediation analyses showed voice call frequency was indirectly associated with less loneliness through greater relationship maintenance satisfaction, while lean media was indirectly associated with greater loneliness through relationship maintenance frustration.

Drawing from communicate bond belong theory, two dimensions of routine social interactions (i.e., volition, typicality) are examined in the context of everyday talk to advance theory on relationship maintenance. Adults' (N = 127) social interactions (n = 2537) were collected using experience sampling. Testing preregistered hypotheses, multilevel modeling results suggest that in more typical interactions individuals reported more connection and well‐being and less social energy expenditure. The more volitional (i.e., engaged in by choice) the interaction, the more the connection and well‐being and the more the social energy expended. Day‐over‐day analyses (n = 793) suggest that participants maintained their relationships more easily when they had more choice in their interactions each day but a more stable routine of interaction across the week.

No abstract