Laura Vandenbosch

Biographic Data

ID199664
NAMELaura Vandenbosch
GIVEN NAMESLaura
FAMILY NAMEVandenbosch
SIGNATUREVANDENBOSCH L
AFFILIATIONSKU Leuven
ORCID0000-0001-6834-8386
VERIFIEDYes
TOTAL WORKS107
TOTAL CITATIONS180
AUTHOR COUNT107
EDITOR COUNT0
FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR2011
LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR2026
H-INDEX7

  • Trending Topics, Growing Knowledge? How Curating Actors’ Political Social Media Content Affects Youth’s Political Knowledge

    Open AccessMargot Lissens, Cato Waeterloos et al.ARTICLEPolitical Communication2026

    Whether youth can gain political knowledge through social media is long debated. Existing research has insufficiently accounted for different curating actors of political information, an indirect learning logic, and within-person changes. To fill these gaps, we conducted a large-scale three-wave panel study among 16- to 30-year-olds (NT3 = 2276) to examine how exposure to different social media actors such as politicians, peers, or influencers re…

  • Belgian, French, and Slovenian Adolescents’ Visual Sexting Practices and Its Links with Body Image and Sexuality

    Open AccessThi Willems, Laure Dedecker et al.ARTICLESexuality Research and Social…2026

  • Adolescents’ Sexualized Self-Presentations on Social Media

    Femke Konings, Laura Vandenbosch et al.ARTICLEMedia Psychology2026

    Scholars, educators, and policymakers have expressed concerns about the sexualization of youth in popular social media platforms. Yet little is known about the prevalence of sexualized content on social media and who is most likely to post it. This study considers adolescents in three European countries (i.e. 115 Belgium, 134 France, and 118 Slovenia; Mage = 16.40, SD = 1.60, 62.10% girls) who donated their most recent posts, profile picture, and…

  • Daily Relationships Between Adolescents’ Perceived Digital Well-Being, State Self-Esteem, and Affective Well-Being

    Jasmina Rosič, Robyn Vanherle et al.ARTICLEMedia Psychology2026

    Perceived digital well-being occurs when adolescents believe that they manage their smartphone use in a way that ensures that the benefits of using a smartphone outweigh the drawbacks in the social, emotional, and cognitive domains. Perceived digital benefits may also extend to offline benefits, such as adolescents’ self-esteem and affective well-being. As self-esteem and affective well-being are known to fluctuate daily, this 14-day daily diary …

  • Analyzing adolescents’ Social Media Posts

    Lara Schreurs, Ines Boeckxstaens et al.ARTICLEMass Communication & Society2026

    This study explores the nature of adolescents’ posts on social media using a data donation approach within three different European countries. Adolescents (NBelgium = 106, NFrance = 118, NSlovenia = 114) donated screenshots from their most recent posts/stories on Snapchat, Instagram, and TikTok. The various themes present in the visuals of the screenshots were coded, and data were linked to survey measures to explore individual differences. The r…

  • Social chatbots and minors

    Yuhui Olivia Chen, Lara Schreurs et al.ARTICLEJournal of Children and Media2026

    sponsorship: Research Foundation - Flanders (FWO)|11G2725N

  • Exploring the Impact of Heterogeneous Body Image Themes in Entertainment Fiction Narratives Among Youth

    Chelly Maes, Jessica M Alleva et al.ARTICLEMass Communication & Society2026References: 15

    sponsorship: This work is supported by Interne Fondsen KU Leuven, PDMT2 under grant number [PDMT2/22/008]. (Interne Fondsen KU Leuven|PDMT2/22/008)

  • A Toxic Feedback Loop? The Relationship Between Performance-Contingent Self-Esteem and Toxic Communication in Adolescent Videogame Play

    Open AccessEdward John Noon, L Carbone et al.ARTICLEMass Communication & Society2026References: 14

  • Adolescents’ Preferences for Mainstream and Paraphilic Pornography and Sexual Health Components

    Chelly Maes, Paul J Wright et al.ARTICLEHealth Communication2025

    Health communication scholars are becoming increasingly cognizant of the potential health implications of youths' pornography consumption. However, while research on pornography viewing and adolescent health and development has become increasingly common, the possible importance of distinguishing between mainstream and paraphilic consumption and within-and-between person dynamics has been underemphasized. Accordingly, the present study explored r…

  • BoPo online, BoPo offline? Engagement with body positivity posts, positive appearance comments on social media, and adolescents' appearance-related prosocial tendencies

    Open AccessNikol Kvardova, Chelly Maes et al.ARTICLEComputers in Human Behavior2025

    Encouraging prosocial tendencies toward others’ physical appearance is crucial for promoting a positive body image during adolescence. Social media content that highlights positive appearance messages can significantly influence these tendencies. Hence, this three-wave panel study explored the impact of exposure to and the posting of Body Positivity (BoPo) posts and positive appearance comments on social media upon adolescents’ offline prosocial …

  • The Perfect Li(f)e

    Open AccessGaëlle Vanhoffelen, Anaëlle J Gonzalez et al.ARTICLECommunication Research2025

    Youth perfectionism levels have increased significantly over the last decades. Given the dominance of picture-perfect content, social media are often designated as contributors of this rise. Accordingly, this study examined how exposure to positive social media content might increase adolescents’ perfectionistic dispositions and vice versa. Moreover, it was explored whether upward social comparison and adolescents’ individualism values as well as…

  • BoPo, #Ideal, or #Mixed? Exploring Adolescents’ Daily Exposure to Appearance Content on Social Media and Its Relations with Body Image Components

    Open AccessChelly Maes, Robyn Vanherle et al.ARTICLECommunication Research2025

    When using social media, adolescents encounter various types of appearance-related content. Yet, no research has explored how daily exposure to such types of content, including idealized content, body positivity (BoPo) content, and a mixture of both, links to adolescents’ body image states. With the present 14-day daily diary study among French adolescents ( N = 108, 1,434 daily assessments, M age = 15.99, 64.8% girls), we examined how exposure t…

  • Unraveling Perceived Work Values of Role Models From TV Series and Social Media in Adolescents’ Work Value Endorsement

    Open AccessIlse Vranken, Sonya Dal Cin et al.ARTICLECommunication Research2025

    Work values are a component of vocational identities. How TV series and social media role models play a role in adolescents’ work value endorsement remains underexamined. This study investigated transactional within-person associations between perceived upholding of intrinsic/extrinsic work values by a favorite occupational role model from a TV series or from social media and adolescents’ intrinsic/extrinsic work value endorsement. The moderating…

  • Digital media uses and effects

    Laura Vandenbosch, Kathleen Beullens et al.ARTICLEJournal of Children and Media2025

    The question of whether and when the use of digital media (DM), such as social media, streaming platforms, and games, positively and negatively affects children and adolescents’ physical and psycho

  • It’s the will, not the skill

    Sarah Devo, Erica Scharrer et al.ARTICLEJournal of Children and Media2025

    The current experimental study among 451 Belgian adolescents examined how televised narratives that suggest that academic performance can change with hard work and effort (i.e. malleability narrative) compared to narratives that focus on inability to change academic performances (i.e. fixed narrative) differently affect academic self-perceptions, motivation, and well-being. Additionally, this study explores how adolescents’ reactions to malleabil…

  • Unraveling the positive and negative roles of positive body-focused social media interactions in adolescents’ body image

    Open AccessIlse Vranken, Lara Schreurs et al.ARTICLECyberpsychology Journal of…2025

    Despite the increasing circulation of potentially positive body-focused social media content, it remains unclear how interactions with such content relate to adolescents’ positive and negative body image. This cross-sectional study (n = 690 adolescents, Mage = 16.41, SDage = .98, 55.96% girls) examined the relations between interactions with potentially positive content (i.e., exposure and posting of Body Positive (BoPo) content, receiving positi…

  • The Internalization of a Performance-Oriented Self-Concept Among Adolescents Through Their Favorite Music Artists

    L Carbone, Christoph Klimmt et al.ARTICLEMass Communication & Society2025References: 16

    sponsorship: European Commission|852317

  • Politically influenced by nonpolitical actors? Longitudinal reciprocal associations between social media personalities’ political social media posts and political interest in adolescence

    Open AccessAnaëlle J Gonzalez, Margot Lissens et al.ARTICLENew Media & Society2025References: 16

    Social media personalities—including influencers, athletes, and celebrities who are typically nonpolitical figures, such as Taylor Swift—now serve as a primary news source for many adolescents on social media This study, grounded in Social Cognitive Theory, explores how exposure to political content from adolescents’ favorite influencers and celebrities on social media may reciprocally relate to their political interest. A three-wave panel study …

  • Understanding Sexualized Self-Presentation on Mobile Dating Apps

    Open AccessFemke Konings, Sindy R Sumter et al.ARTICLESexuality & Culture2025References: 19

  • Adolescents’ perceptions regarding their smartphone use

    Open AccessJasmina Rosič, Lara Schreurs et al.ARTICLEJournal of Computer-Mediated…2025References: 6

    Adolescents perceive that they have digital well-being when smartphone use benefits outweigh the drawbacks in the social, cognitive, and emotional domains. Perceptions of digital well-being play a role in digital media effects, yet have received little research attention. This 1-year, three-wave panel study among 1,081 Slovenian adolescents investigated the reciprocal relationships between perceived digital well-being and self-esteem, with gender…

  • Gendered Social Media Content Among Adolescent Boys and Girls

    Open AccessLaura Vandenbosch, Gaëlle Ouvrein et al.ARTICLESex Roles2025References: 4

  • Navigating Beauty Standards on Social Media

    Open AccessNikol Kvardova, Hana Macháčková et al.ARTICLEJournal of Youth and Adolescence2025References: 77

    Social media activity focused on physical appearance can heighten body dissatisfaction in adolescents. However, the mechanisms behind this association remain insufficiently examined. This three-wave longitudinal study analyzed data from 2500 Czech adolescents (aged 11–16, M = 13.4, SD = 1.7, 50% girls) to examine whether the comparison with social media appearance ideals and the internalization of these ideals mediate the association between appe…

  • The Values of Fame

    Open AccessAnaëlle J Gonzalez, Isra Irmak Akgün et al.ARTICLESocial Media + Society2025References: 43

    Despite the popularity of social media influencers (SMIs), little is known about how their content reflects and conveys certain values, leaving a gap in understanding their role as value intermediaries. This content analysis examined the representation of Schwartz values in the Instagram profiles of 59 of the most followed Western SMIs, celebrities, and athletes. Relying on 1256 posts and 2936 stories, the study documented the prevalence of value…

  • Making the Good Better? Investigating the Long-Term Associations Between Capitalization on Social Media and Adolescents’ Life Satisfaction

    Open AccessEdward John Noon, Chelly Maes et al.ARTICLEMedia Psychology2024

    Initial evidence suggests that sharing positive news with others on social media may have short-term emotional benefits for young people. However, little is currently known about whether these capitalization processes have long-term implications for adolescent well-being. Drawing upon the broaden-and-build theory of positive psychology, this study examined the longitudinal reciprocal relationship between capitalization on social media and adolesc…

  • Me, My Self-Presentations and I

    Gaëlle Vanhoffelen, Lara Schreurs et al.ARTICLEMedia Psychology2024

    Although the relationship between social media and narcissism in adolescents has been widely studied, the direction of this link remains unclear to date. This is striking given the potential deconstructive consequences of narcissism for adolescents’ peer relationships. Therefore, this three-wave panel study (NW1 = 1032) aimed to examine whether increases in adolescents’ narcissism levels are (reciprocally) related to increases in posting positive…