Positive Digital Communication Among Youth: The Development and Validation of the Digital Flourishing Scale for Adolescents

Authors

Jasmina Rosič, KU Leuven
Sophie H. Janicke-Bowles, Chapman UniversityFollow
Luca Carbone, KU Leuven
Bojana Lobe, University of Ljubljana
Laura Vandenbosch, KU Leuven

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

9-1-2022

Abstract

Research has extensively studied the negative effects of digital communication on adolescents’ well-being. However, positive digital experiences and behavior in adolescence are still poorly understood. The recently developed Digital Flourishing Scale addresses this gap and focuses on the positive perceptions of a user’s experiences and behaviors in digital communication among adults. In this paper, we developed an adolescent version of this scale. Study 1 demonstrated the internal consistency of the scale and the same factor structure for adolescence as for adulthood: connectedness, civil participation, positive social comparison, authentic self-presentation, and self-control. Study 2 confirmed the identified factor structure with a second sample of adolescents and established measurement invariance across genders. The construct validity of the scale was confirmed by investigating associations with related constructs, including the basic psychological needs from self-determination theory (competence, autonomy, and relatedness), secure attachment to a close friend, Internet aggression, social media-induced inspiration, authenticity of posted positive content, and social media self-control failure. The results indicated that not all adolescents flourish equally online. Differences occurred depending on the adolescents’ gender and socioeconomic status. The paper concludes that the newly developed scale is a valid and reliable measure for assessing adolescents’ perceptions of digital thriving and digital empowerment.

Comments

This article was originally published in Frontiers in Digital Health, volume 4, in 2022. https://doi.org/10.3389/fdgth.2022.975557

Recommended Citation

Rosič J, Janicke-Bowles SH, Carbone L, Lobe B and Vandenbosch L (2022) Positive digital communication among youth: The development and validation of the digital flourishing scale for adolescents. Front. Digit. Health 4:975557. https://doi.org/10.3389/fdgth.2022.975557

Copyright

The authors

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.