JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

Rather than confide in adults about mental health struggles, adolescents may use social media to disclose to peers. Disclosure recipients are tasked with deciding whether to alert an adult and, if so, whom to alert. Few studies examine how adolescents decide on a trusted adult to assist with a friend posting on social media about their mental health struggles. Moreover, Latinx adolescents are underrepresented in research on social media use, which creates gaps in understanding how social media may influence their wellbeing.

Objective:

This qualitative study presents findings from semi-structured interviews with Latinx adolescents to investigate how they seek out trusted adults when a friend makes a concerning social media post about their mental health struggles. Specifically, we sought to determine which adult ties to activate, the resources they believe the adult can provide, and the support they expect the adult to provide.

Methods:

We recruited participants through a non-profit organization serving the Latinx community (primarily of Mexican origin) located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. We conducted 43 semi-structured interviews, lasting 60-90 minutes, with Latinx adolescents (25 girls, 18 boys) between the ages of 13 and 17. All interviews were in English, at the adolescent’s request. Using a grounded theory approach, we identified the nature of the relationship between the trusted adult and either the disclosure recipient or distressed friend, and the resources and support the trusted adult is expected to provide.

Results:

Participants nominated adults who were emotionally or physically proximate to either the disclosure recipient or distressed friend, particularly parents (of the recipient and friend) and school staff. However, these were not uniformly endorsed because some felt not all parents and school staff were emotionally proximate. Adolescents sought out trusted adults with access to two resources, experiential knowledge and authority. Some avoided adults with authority because of the risk of punishment and others thought their immigrant parents did not have relevant experiential knowledge to assist. Interviewees felt trusted adults with either resource could provide emotional and instrumental (either directly or indirectly) support, while those with experiential knowledge could provide informational support. Notably, digital literacy was not mentioned as a needed resource despite the friend disclosing their distress on social media.

Conclusions:

To assist a distressed friend posting on social media, Latinx adolescents look not just for trusted adults who are emotionally and physically proximate, but who hold key resources that facilitate support. Efforts should focus on connecting adolescents to trusted adults and training adults who hold positions of authority or experiential knowledge to offer both direct and indirect support. Additionally, efforts should consider differences in immigrant experiences for parents and address the potential long-term consequences of oversurveillance of Latinx youth by school staff for their access to social support.