Examining the relationship between online social support, hope and subjective well-being levels in adolescents

The level of social support, which has a protective and buffer effect on the physical and mental health of individuals against challenging life events, has been researched in various fields such as health, psychology, sociology and education. The concept of social support has evolved into the concept of perceived social support, and with the development of the internet and social networks, it has evolved into the concept of online social support. Young people who spend a lot of time on the internet and actively use social networks have applied to online environments more during periods such as the Covid-19 pandemic. Online social support studies have been needed in terms of the spirit, body, mind and social development of young people. The main purpose of this study is to examine adolescents in terms of various demographic, hope and subjective well-being variables. The study was conducted with 542 high school students (390 female students, 152 male students) from various types of high schools in Kırşehir province at the levels of preparatory, 9th, 10th, 11th and 12th grades by using the relational screening method, one of the general screening models. Personal Information Form, Online Social Support Scale (SSDS), Trait Hope Scale (HSS) and Adolescent Well-Being Scale (ABSS) were used to collect the data. Data were collected in face-to-face and online environments. In the analysis of the data, SPSS-23 programme was used and t-test, Analysis of Variance, Tukey Test, Games-Howell Test, Pearson Product Moment Correlation Analysis, Hierarchical Regression Analysis methods were used. The level of online social support is the independent variable in the study. Demographic variables and hope and subjective well-being levels are dependent variables. As demographic variables, gender, age, grade level, high school type, internet usage time, number of social media accounts were analysed. A significant difference was found in favour of male students according to gender and 16-year-old students according to age. Although differences were observed according to class level, school type, internet usage time, number of social media accounts, they were not significant. As the level of trait hope increases, the online social support levels of high school students also increase significantly. As subjective well-being levels increase, high school students' online social support levels increase at a low level. When the literature was examined, results supporting and differing from our research findings were found and discussed. The fact that the concept of online social support has just started to be studied and there are limited studies in the literature can be an example for future studies. The concept of online social support obtained through online environments, which is an integral part of the daily life of young people with the development of the internet and technology today, can be included in school guidance studies. For the generalisability of the results and the efficiency of the studies to be planned for young people, long-term studies with different student groups can be recommended.