Identifying profiles of US tween and teen media users: A differential susceptibility approach to the 2019 and 2021 waves of the Common Sense Census

For tweens/teens in the United States, media represents a central element of their lives. However, researchers know very little about the profiles of media users in these age groups, considering their engagement in media activities. To address this, the present study employed a latent profile analysis examining the frequency of engagement for seven media activities from both the 2019 and 2021 versions of the Common Sense Census, which use national representative samples of preadolescents (8 to 12 years) and adolescents (13 to 18 years) in the United States. Using the Differential Susceptibility to Media Effects Model as a framework, we also tested predictors of profile membership. For each wave, a four-profile solution was selected. Two profiles were consistent across waves: Diversified media users, and traditional media users, while each wave had two unique profiles: Social media users and social media abstainers for 2019 data, and moderate media users and high techers for 2021. Importantly, developmental (e.g. age), dispositional (e.g. gender and race/ethnicity identification), and social (e.g. parent marital status) susceptibilities were predictors of profile membership.