Cross-sectional study links emotional influencer use with perceived harms among Spanish youth

Young people who consumed social-media influencer content for emotional reasons, including seeking companionship or coping with personal difficulties, reported more consequences for their sense of self and relationships when their consumption was frequent. The strongest concentrations of adverse perceived consequences occurred among bisexual, homosexual and non-normative sexual-orientation groups, according to a cross-sectional study of 1,800 adolescents and young people aged 14 to 24 living in Spain.

Researchers administered an online questionnaire to examine how often participants consumed influencer content, the motivations behind that use, and the self-perceptive and relational consequences they perceived. The sample included heterosexual, bisexual, homosexual and non-normative sexual-orientation groups. The researchers also considered age across adolescence and early adulthood, examining whether the measured associations varied during that developmental transition.

The analysis used univariate and bivariate assessments alongside correlational and regression models to examine relationships among consumption frequency, emotionally oriented motivations, and perceived consequences. The results showed higher concentrations of reported adverse self-perceptive and relational consequences among bisexual and homosexual participants and those classified in the non-normative sexual-orientation group. Two features were associated with this pattern: social comparison and a stronger orientation toward interaction mediated by the digital environment. These are statistical associations within the surveyed population, not evidence that influencer content caused the reported experiences.

The models also suggested that the association between consumption frequency and perceived consequences became more pronounced when content was consumed for emotionally oriented purposes such as companionship or coping with personal difficulties. Because the data were collected at a single point, the study cannot establish whether emotionally motivated consumption led to greater perceived consequences, whether those experiences encouraged more frequent use, or whether other factors influenced both. The findings instead identify an association that varied with sexual-orientation group, age and the emotional purposes associated with influencer-content consumption. The researchers described the results as relevant to digital-well-being experiences during the transition from adolescence to young adulthood, without demonstrating a causal effect or a clinical benefit or harm.

Subject of Research: Associations between influencer-content use, emotional motivations and perceived consequences among Spanish youth aged 14 to 24

Article Title: Influencer content consumption: emotional uses and perceived consequences among LGBTQ+ and heterosexual youth

Article References: Suárez-Álvarez, R., Montes-Vozmediano, M., & López-de-Ayala, M.-C. (2026). Influencer content consumption: emotional uses and perceived consequences among LGBTQ+ and heterosexual youth. Humanities and Social Sciences Communications. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-026-09328-9

Image Credits: AI Generated

DOI: 10.1057/s41599-026-09328-9

Keywords: social media influencers, adolescent well-being, emotional motivations, social comparison, digital relationships, sexual orientation, online survey, cross-sectional study, Spain, Influencer, content, consumption