Social Media and Mental Health

The vast majority of research addressing the impacts of technology center around mental health issues. While most studies show a correlation between technology use and mental health, more recent studies are establishing a causal link between some technology use, mainly social media use, and mental health outcomes.

This section examines adolescent mental health statistics and the impacts of social media on mental health.

For suggestions and solutions, see Empower: Mental Health and Sleep, social media and smartphones.

let’s look at the numbers*

Rates of depression and anxiety have remained stable until recently:

Major Depressive Episode in a single year (Ages 12-17)

Hospital Admission for Non-Fatal Self-Harm

No significant change in boys

Hospitalization for Suicide Ideation and Attempts more than doubled from 2008-2015 for both boys and girls age 11-18. Suicide is the 3rd leading cause of death amongst US adolescents. 27% of children who attempt suicide will have a second attempt.

Social Media and Mental Health.

The statistics above are alarming and many health professionals and researchers are conducting studies in an attempt to understand why.

What is the cause?

Based of preliminary data and consideration of timing and sex differences, many in the field see a correlation between mental health and the increased use of smartphones and social media by adolescents.

By 2010, more than half of middle and high schoolers have smartphones and social media. And that number has risen steadily since.

Why does social media affects girls more than boys?

Other explanations for how social media can negatively affect well-being:

Focusing on likes: During middle school and high school, adolescents are developing their identities. In figuring out who they are, they often look to peers for validation. Social media has been designed to exploit this need. Tweens and teens often feel pressure to alter their appearance and engage in negative and risky behavior, all in the name of validation through likes.

Cyberbullying: There is no question that cyberbullying is a major culprit in the onset of depression, anxiety and suicidal thoughts amongst adolescents. Cyberbullying occurs when kids forward messages and pictures, engage in verbal abuse, sometime anonymously, and deliberately exclude others.

Having too many fake friends: Even with privacy settings, teens tend to rack up 100s to 1000s of friends on social media sites which contributes to the collection of personal information, photos and messages that are often used as social ammunition by fake or fickle friends. There is no privacy on social media.

Pressure to respond and post: Teens are under an incredible amount of internal and external pressure to not only respond to messages, maintain SnapChat streak and manage 100s of incoming texts, but also to post interesting, funny, attractive photos and status updates. This pressure can be consuming, especially when teens are basing their self-worth on the responses they will receive from these posts.

Less face time: Social interaction requires practice. It’s difficult to build empathy, compassion and resilience when communicating online. Human connection is tied to feelings of positive well being and helps kids build important skills for the future.

*Data borrowed from Psychologist Jonathan Haidt. To hear directly from him, listen here starting at 1:18.

wow, that was depressing. What can we do about this?

We can do what technology executives are doing and limit our own and our children’s use of digital media.

We can empower kids to resist the addictive nature and persuasive design of digital media by sharing information and committing to digital wellness.

We can encourage and require that our kids disconnect and engage in screen-free activities.

We can work together to share ideas and support each other.

For more suggestions and solutions, visit our empower section on mental health, social media and smartphones.

Learn More about Social Media and Mental Health.

Medical Organization statements

American Academy of Pediatrics - “The use of social media during adolescence can also negatively impact health and development. Although the majority of adolescents report that social media are a positive contribution to their lives,19 more negative associations with social media have also been documented in the research literature. These include cyberbullying, depression, social anxiety, and exposure to developmentally inappropriate content.”

Research

JOnathan Haidt and Jean twenge

Psychologist Jonathan Haidt and Psychologist Jean Twenge have complied all the available research and answered the question: Is there an increase in adolescent mood disorder, self-harm and suicide since 2010? They conclude: “Many studies, using different methods and asking different questions, indicate that rates of adolescent anxiety, depression, and self harm are rising for girls in the years after (roughly) 2012, compared to the years before (roughly) 2009, in the US and in the UK, as well as in other English speaking countries. The increases for boys are smaller and are found less consistently. The increases in teen suicide rates are more clear in the USA than in the UK, but in both countries, the percent increase is larger for girls. Because the changes are seen in behavioral acts (such as self harm, suicide attempts, and suicide) which increase at roughly the same time as the self-reports of anxiety, depression, and suicidal ideation, these increases seem to reflect more than just changing diagnostic criteria or changes in the willingness of Gen Z to report distress. The increase appears to be real, and we must look for its causes. The timing of the rise is consistent with the hypothesis that the widespread entrance of teens to social media platforms between 2009 and 2012, and the smartphone gaining market saturation (50%+ ownership) in 2012 is a contributor to the rise in mental health problems after 2012.”

This companion review by the same pair examines the possible connection between the decline in Mental Health and Social Media Use. They conclude: “Many studies, using a variety of methods, have found associations between heavy social media use and bad mental health outcomes, particularly for girls. Some of the associations are very small, some are larger. The recent publication of two papers that find no effect (2.2.1, Heffer et al. 2019), or negligible effects (1.2.1, Orben & Przybylski, 2019) is a normal part of the ongoing scientific debate about the effects of social media on teen mental health.

Children and Screens Institute of Digital Media and Child Development - Anxiety and Depression Summary, Cyberbullying Summary , Digital Life and Youth Well-being Summary.

The Lancet - Social Media, screen time and young people's mental health

The UK Chief Medical Officer’s commentary which includes advice for parents and caregivers, and recommendations for other stakeholders.

Science Direct - Associations between screen time and lower psychological well-being among children and adolescents - This study examined a large ( 40,337 individuals) national random sample of 2- to 17-year-old children and adolescents in the U.S. in 2016 that included comprehensive measures of screen time (including cell phones, computers, electronic devices, electronic games, and TV) and an array of psychological well-being measures. After 1 h/day of use, more hours of daily screen time were associated with lower psychological well-being, including less curiosity, lower self-control, more distractibility, more difficulty making friends, less emotional stability, being more difficult to care for, and inability to finish tasks. Among 14- to 17-year-olds, high users of screens (7+ h/day vs. low users of 1 h/day) were more than twice as likely to ever have been diagnosed with depression, ever diagnosed with anxiety, treated by a mental health professional or have taken medication for a psychological or behavioral issue in the last 12  months. Moderate use of screens (4 h/day) was also associated with lower psychological well-being. Non-users and low users of screens generally did not differ in well-being. Associations between screen time and lower psychological well-being were larger among adolescents than younger children.

Science Daily - Social media use increases depression and loneliness, study finds. Facebook, Snapchat, and Instagram may not be great for personal well-being. The first experimental study examining use of multiple platforms shows a causal link between time spent on these social media and increased depression and loneliness.

Science Direct - The effects of active social media engagement with peers on body image in young women

Science Daily - Risky decisions: Excessive social media use is comparable to drug addiction. Bad decision-making is a trait oftentimes associated with drug addicts and pathological gamblers, but what about people who excessively use social media? New research by the University of Michigan shows a connection between social media use and impaired risky decision-making, which is commonly deficient in substance addiction.

Google - “We discussed two negative behavioral cycles: an internal experience of habit and excessive use, and an externally reinforced cycle of social obligation. Research has also found the use of smartphones to regulate unpleasant emotional states, such as distracting oneself from negative feelings or to increase stimulation and feelings of social connection when bored or lonely [20]; these attention- and emotion-regulation motives were found to be related to the practice of texting while driving [10].”

published articles

Time Magazine - There’s Worrying New Research About Kids’ Screen Time and Their Mental Health

Forbes - New Studies Show Just How Bad Social Media Is For Mental Health - “Two new studies underline this reality by showing not just correlation, but causation—in other words, that tweaking your time on social media actually has measurable effects on mental health.”

Washington Times - Teen suicide rate suddenly rises with heavy use of smartphones, social media - ‘“From 2010 to 2015, a record number of teenagers were reporting depressive symptoms and overloading mental health clinics, while suicide rates climbed for the first time in decades,” said psychologist Jean Twenge, lead author of the study, which was published Tuesday in the journal Clinical Psychological Science.’

The Atlantic - Have Smartphones Destroyed a Generation? “Teens who spend more time than average on screen activities are more likely to be unhappy, and those who spend more time than average on nonscreen activities are more likely to be happy. Teens who spend three hours a day or more on electronic devices are 35 percent more likely to have a risk factor for suicide, such as making a suicide plan. “

Time - Why Instagram Is the Worst Social Media for Mental Health. “Instagram is the worst social media network for mental health and wellbeing, according to a recent survey of almost 1,500 teens and young adults. While the photo-based platform got points for self-expression and self-identity, it was also associated with high levels of anxiety, depression, bullying and FOMO, or the “fear of missing out.””