Social Media Use and Academic Performance in Chinese Children and Adolescents: A Moderated Chain Mediation Model

Abstract

Based on data from the 2022 Chinese Minors’ Digital Life and Online Protection Survey, this study investigated the status quo of social media use and its influencing mechanism on academic performance among Chinese children and adolescents. The statistical results indicate that the average level of Chinese students’ social media use was generally low, with their academic performance varying across socio-demographic and schooling characteristics. After controlling for other variables, it was found that the frequency of social media use could exert a significant positive impact on students’ academic performance. Moreover, the mechanism analysis revealed that online learning behavior and prosocial behavior served as chain mediators linking social media use to academic performance. Specifically, students could transfer their social media behavioral patterns to the internet-based learning context, and then effectively utilize remote learning resources. Meanwhile, engagement with social media would cultivate individuals’ prosocial personality, thereby stimulating intrinsic motivation for learning and ultimately enhancing academic performance. The heterogeneity analysis further confirmed that the impact of social media use on students’ academic performance was stronger in lower-class families, underscoring the moderating role of family socioeconomic status in the relationship between social media use and academic performance. The findings suggest that if academic performance is regarded as an integral part of individual capacity development, then the rational utilization of social media resources might be a pivotal approach to alleviate the predicament of developmental inequality faced by students from low socioeconomic backgrounds.