Environmental Influences

The social-ecological model can help break down a complex situation and pinpoint areas where supports may be needed. The effects of social media on adolescents is a great example for showing how the ecological model can clarify an issue, figure out who is involved, and what is an appropriate way to respond.

Social media includes websites and applications, where people can create and share content with others online and/or participate in social networking. It is also a place where people can build online communities. Social media is commonly used by adolescents, with 95 percent of U.S. teens reporting having access to a smartphone and 45 percent reporting that they are online nearly all of the time.³ While social media can have many positive influences⁴ (e.g., supportive online communities), it can also have negative effects on youth. One negative consequence of social media for youth is bullying, which can lead to increases in depressive symptoms, low self-esteem and other mental health issues.⁵ Social media is present throughout many environments, following an individual wherever they are, including at home, in school, at work, and so on. Bullying can take the form of online harassment while also following an adolescent into real life while at school or in their neighborhood, creating a constant negative presence.

Research has found that adolescents who experience online harassment are more resilient when they also have a supportive social environment at school.⁶ This information in conjunction with the socio-ecological model could help practitioners (PDF, 2 pages) develop anti-bullying initiatives in their schools, or to help individual youth and their friends/peers develop plans for creating more socially-supportive school environments. This would also likely need the involvement of family and positive parenting practices, to help support adolescent connectedness and potentially involvement of the local community.

The socio-ecological environments relevant to a social media bullying issue would include the home, school, and local community; and the key players within those environments would include the individual, family members, peers, school personnel, and the local community. With this information, a practitioner or guardian could start to develop a plan of action.

The Centers for Disease Control provides another comprehensive example of the social ecological model, looking at the public health issue of violence prevention. This example (Figure 2) uses overlapping rings in the model to “illustrate how factors at one level influence factors at another level.” It also emphasizes the need for acting across multiple levels of the model to successfully implement prevention efforts that are effective and sustainable.

Figure 2: The Social-Ecological Model in Violence Prevention

Image Source: https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/publichealthissue/social-ecologicalmodel.html

The following breaks down each level of the social-ecological model within the violence prevention example:⁷

• Individual — Biological and personal history factors that increase the likelihood of becoming a victim or perpetrator of violence, such as age, education, income, or substance use. Prevention strategies at the individual level should promote attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors that prevent violence, such as providing education and life skills training.

• Relationship — Close relationships that may increase the risk of experiencing violence as a victim or perpetrator, such as a person’s closest social circle-peers, partners and family members who can influence their behavior and contribute to their experience. Prevention strategies for this level could include parenting or family-focused programs, mentoring, peer programs to reduce conflict and/or promote healthy relationships.

• Community — Settings such as schools, workplaces, and neighborhoods that may increase the risk of experiencing violence as a victim or perpetrator. Prevention strategies could include efforts to impact the social and physical environment such as reducing social isolation, improving economic and housing opportunities in neighborhoods, and improving climate, processes, and policies within school and workplace settings.

• Societal — Social and cultural norms that support violence as an acceptable way to resolve conflicts, as well as health economic, educational and social policies that help maintain economic or social inequalities between groups in society.