Skip to main content

Table 4 The association of PSMU and online communication with strangers with social media threats

From: Social media threats and health among adolescents: evidence from the health behaviour in school-aged children study

Variable

Problematic social media use (ref. non-problematic use)

Online communication with strangers (ref. non-intensive communication)

OR (CI 95%)

p value

OR (CI 95%)

p value

Cyberbullying (ref. never)

    

Daily

5.64 (2.97–10.69)

< 0.001

3.98 (1.59–10.00)

0.004

Weekly

4.72 (2.84–7.82)

< 0.001

1.94 (0.96–3.95)

0.067

Monthly

2.68 (1.71–4.20)

< 0.001

1.17 (0.59–2.33)

0.658

Sexual harassment (ref. never)

    

Daily

5.66 (3.07–10.42)

< 0.001

5.82 (2.58–13.15)

< 0.001

Weekly

3.05 (1.83–5.08)

< 0.001

2.91 (1.60–5.28)

< 0.001

Monthly

1.97 (1.26–3.09)

0.003

1.74 (0.84–3.60)

0.133

Racism (ref. never)

    

Daily

3.00 (1.77–5.10)

< 0.001

3.43 (1.77–6.68)

< 0.001

Weekly

1.83 (1.21–2.75)

0.004

2.32 (1.37–3.94)

0.002

Monthly

1.08 (0.67–1.72)

0.763

1.14 (0.60–2.16)

0.686

Unauthorized distribution of sensitive material (ref. never)

    

Daily

4.58 (2.57–8.16)

< 0.001

4.36 (2.10–9.05)

< 0.001

Weekly

2.47 (1.62–3.77)

< 0.001

1.85 (0.91–3.77)

0.089

Monthly

1.28 (0.81–2.02)

0.299

1.18 (0.61–2.25)

0.624

Phishing attempts (ref. never)

    

Daily

4.08 (2.22–7.49)

< 0.001

6.02 (2.93–12.36)

< 0.001

Weekly

3.08 (2.03–4.68)

< 0.001

2.52 (1.20–5.30)

0.017

Monthly

1.36 (0.84–2.21)

0.209

1.72 (0.97–3.05)

0.064

Misinformation (ref. never)

    

Daily

1.50 (0.77–2.92)

0.229

1.97 (0.82–4.76)

0.127

Weekly

1.05 (0.64–1.73)

0.846

1.00 (0.46–2.16)

0.997

Monthly

0.71 (0.39–1.32)

0.276

0.76 (0.33–1.76)

0.525

Sale or distribution of drugs (ref. never)

    

Daily

3.84 (2.19–6.73)

< 0.001

2.03 (1.01–4.10)

0.048

Weekly

2.40 (1.54–3.76)

< 0.001

0.97 (0.53–1.79)

0.932

Monthly

1.75 (0.93–3.28)

0.081

0.58 (0.24–1.39)

0.218

Harmful social media challenges (ref. never)

    

Daily

3.85 (2.14–6.94)

< 0.001

3.18 (1.51–6.71)

0.002

Weekly

1.58 (1.04–2.39)

0.031

1.96 (1.12–3.43)

0.019

Monthly

0.97 (0.61–1.54)

0.888

1.66 (0.92–2.99)

0.090

Content that causes appearance pressures (ref. never)

    

Daily

4.40 (2.55–7.60)

< 0.001

2.13 (1.12–4.06)

0.021

Weekly

2.86 (1.76–4.65)

< 0.001

0.93 (0.49–1.77)

0.819

Monthly

1.95 (1.07–3.55)

0.031

1.08 (0.57–2.05)

0.808

  1. Fixed-effect multinomial logistic regression models: odds ratios (OR); 95% confidence intervals (CI); ref. reference category
  2. The significance level was set at p < 0.05. The significant associations have been bolded
  3. Regression models for each social media threat were run separately. The models were adjusted for gender, age, emotional intelligence, FAS, family support, friend support, PSMU, online communication with strangers. Social media threats were treated as outcome variables in the models
  4. Emotional intelligence was only included for 15-year-olds