Adolescents, social media, physical activity and wellbeing: co-producing a school-based intervention

Mckeever, Jonathon ORCID: 0000-0001-9581-6800 (2024). Adolescents, social media, physical activity and wellbeing: co-producing a school-based intervention. University of Birmingham. Ph.D.

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Abstract

Most adolescents are inadequately physically active in relation to the reccomendations outlined by the World Health Organization. Simultaenously, social media has become an intrinsic part of adolescents’ lives and they are the first generation to have constant access to social media through smartphones. While untethered access to screens and the internet may provide barriers to physical activity, more work is needed to understand the influence of new technologies and how social media can be used as a resource for physical activity engagement.
Study 1 and 2 in this thesis aimed to develop a better understanding of the interaction between adolescent social media use and physical activity by co-producing and developing a school-based social media intervention. Study 1 used co-production activities with adolescents (n = 32) to better understand how schools could use social media to promote physical activity engagement. Study 2 extended this focus to adults and used focus groups and 1:1 interviews to further develop intervention ideas with school staff and parents (n = 24). Following the thematic analysis and thematics comparisons of the data from Study 1 and 2, an intervention was developed using complex intervention design actions. This included a change in focus from physical activity to mental wellbeing, and Study 3 tested the feasibility of a 7-Day Social Media Detox using mixed methods (surveys and interviews) with 146 adolescent participants and nine class mentors (form tutors) across three schools.
This thesis contributes to knowledge by providing new insights into how schools can approach social media use, through a focus on supporting adolescent autonomy and by developing adolescent capabilities in self-regulation. The data provides new evidence about the ways in which adolescents’ uses of social media informs physical activity engagement and mental wellbeing. Taken together, new evidence is provided on: (i) the time, affordances and content on social media that adolescents attend to and use; (ii) the role of schools in supporting adolescents’ uses of social media; and (iii) the key features of a school-based social media intervention that are acceptable and feasible to adolescents and teachers in Sweden.

Type of Work:	Thesis (Doctorates > Ph.D.)
Award Type:	Doctorates > Ph.D.
Supervisor(s):	Supervisor(s) Email ORCID Goodyear, Victoria UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED Williams, Sarah UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED Thompson, Janice UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED Griffiths, Mark UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED Webster, Colin UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED
Licence:	All rights reserved
College/Faculty:	Colleges > College of Life & Environmental Sciences
School or Department:	School of Sport, Exercise and Rehabilitation Sciences
Funders:	None/not applicable
Subjects:	A General Works > AC Collections. Series. Collected works H Social Sciences > H Social Sciences (General) L Education > L Education (General) Q Science > Q Science (General)
URI:	http://etheses.bham.ac.uk/id/eprint/15339

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