Do Materialistic Adolescents Ruminate More About Their Social Media Posts?

Previous research suggests that ruminating on social media content is associated with greater mental distress (Yang et al., 2018). This study examined whether materialistic value orientation (MVO)—prioritizing values and goals related to consumerism, consumption, and social status—predicted social media rumination in a sample of diverse adolescents in a two-wave cross-lagged design. A cross-lagged analysis among 119 adolescents indicated that MVO at Wave 1 predicted greater social media rumination 4 months later at Wave 2, but social media rumination at Wave 1 did not predict MVO at Wave 2. Cross-lagged results suggested that MVO may lead to greater social media rumination over time for diverse adolescents. Adolescents with MVO could benefit from interventions to reduce the effects of their need for external validation and maladaptive rumination, as external validation and maladaptive rumination are linked to behaviors and thoughts that can be harmful to mental health.