Abstract
Despite a rapid increase in research exploring the relationship between adolescent social media use and mental health, the field is hindered by poor quality tools that lack the validity and precision to assess this relationship. The current study presents findings from cognitive interviews that aimed to refine a multidimensional measure of adolescents’ social media experiences relevant to their mental health and wellbeing. We conducted 20 individual, paired or group interviews with 35 adolescents aged 11-16, across three rounds of interviews, testing 83 of a possible 107 items. Through iterative testing, issues relating to comprehension; inapplicability and assumptions within items; and items not addressing their intended experience, were identified and addressed. The interviews also highlighted two wider conceptual issues: (1) the impact of parental restrictions on adolescents’ experiences, and (2) difficulties in responding to items about abstract, identity-based experiences. In addition, the interviews supported an understanding of preferred response options and format. Findings from this study informed specific revisions to measure items to enhance validity, as well as broader considerations for assessing adolescent social media experience. Our study also reinforces the importance of cognitive interviewing in refining adolescent measures more broadly. We identify the need for the development of a set of general recommendations to guide item writing for adolescents, and further work to understand optimal response label options and wording for longer recall periods. Development of such guidance, alongside the greater use of cognitive interviews to pre-test measures, is crucial for improving instrument validity in the field of adolescent mental health.