Adolescents’ in vivo emotional responses to digital and in-person peer experiences: Differences by context and links to daily life depressive symptoms

Abstract

The rise of digital media has raised questions about potential links to adolescent depression, especially among girls. This study investigated whether affective responses to daily peer interactions, and depressive symptoms, varied by context – digital media or in-person. A sample of 110 adolescents assigned female at birth, aged 12–17 ( M = 15.30, SD = 1.51; 83.6% White and 96.7% non-Hispanic) and enriched for risk for depression and suicidality, participated in 30 days of ecological momentary assessments over 3 months. Participants reported their most recent “worst” and “best” peer interactions, the context of these interactions (digital media or in-person), their affective responses to these interactions, and depressive symptoms. Multilevel models revealed that greater negative affect during negative interactions was associated with higher depressive symptoms, regardless of context ( B = 0.02, p < .001). In contrast, positive in-person interactions were associated with higher positive affect than digital interactions ( B = −2.01, p = .02), which, in turn, was associated with lower depressive symptoms ( B = 0.08, p = .01). Findings highlight the protective role of positive in-person experiences in adolescent emotional well-being, and challenge assumptions that negative digital experiences are the primary causes of depressive symptoms.