Roles of cyberbullying, sleep, and physical activity in mediating the effects of social media use on mental health and wellbeing among young people in England: a secondary analysis of longitudinal data

Abstract

Background There is growing concern about associations between social media use and mental health and wellbeing amongst young people. We explored links between frequency of social media use and later mental health and wellbeing in early adolescents, including mediation of effects through cyberbullying and displacement of sleep and physical activity. Methods Secondary analyses of Our Futures, a nationally-representative longitudinal study of young people in England from age 13 to 16 years. Exposures: frequency of social media use at waves 1 (age 13/14 years) through 3 (age 15/16y). Outcomes: a) mental health: General Health Questionnaire (GHQ) at wave 2; b) wellbeing scores (life satisfaction, life is worthwhile, happiness and anxiety) at wave 3. Analyses adjusted for minimal sufficient confounding structure. Mediation: assessed using khb commands in Stata 15. Findings Very frequent social media use (habitually multiple times daily) increased from 42.6% (95% CI: 41.2, 44.2) in wave 1 to 68.5%(67.3, 69.7) by wave 3. Very frequent social media use in wave 1 predicted GHQ high score at wave 2 amongst girls (odds ratio (OR) 1.31 (95% CI: 1.06, 1.63) p=0.01) and boys (1.67 (1.24, 2.26) p=0.001). Persistent very frequent social media use across waves 1 and 2 predicted lower wellbeing amongst girls only (happiness 0.80 (0.70, 0.92) p=0.001; anxiety 1.28 (1.11, 1.48) p=0.001). Associations of social media use with GHQ high score and wellbeing scores for girls were attenuated when adjusted for cyberbullying, sleep and physical activity, although associations amongst boys remained significant. Interpretation Mental health harms related to very frequent social media use amongst girls and appeared very largely due to exposure to cyberbullying and or displacement of sleep and physical activity. Interventions to promote mental health should include efforts to prevent or increase resilience to cyberbullying and ensure adequate sleep and physical activity amongst young people.

Information Technology Use and Cyberbullying Behavior in South Thailand: A Test of the Goldilocks Hypothesis

“…Those who only use the internet very infrequently or in limited ways, tend to be at increased risk. This finding from Thai adolescents is consistent with the data reported by Viner et al [ 23 ] on an English sample of similar age, even though these latter authors did not explicitly mention or test the Goldilocks hypothesis. It is also consistent with the findings summarized by Twenge [ 21 ] on US and UK samples.…”

“…However, in one test of the Goldilocks hypothesis, on a U.S. sample of adolescents, there was little evidence of effects of IT (information technology) use on mental health, or of quadratic effects [ 22 ]. Viner et al [ 23 ] with a sample of 13–16 year olds from England, did not explicitly test for the Goldilocks effect, but their data do show such an effect on the General Health Questionnaire (this measure being better for social media use ‘every couple of days’ compared to either ‘weekly or less’ or to ‘once daily’ or more frequently). Their data also show a Goldilocks effect for having experienced any cyberbullying (here, this risk being least for social media use ‘once daily’, compared to either ‘every couple of days’ or ‘less’, or to ‘2–3 times daily’ or more frequently).…”

“…Sampasa-Kanyinga and Hamilton [ 35 ] reported a dose-response relationship between social networking site use, and risk of cybervictimization. Viner et al [ 23 ] reported a curvilinear effect, but their analysis and discussion was phrased in terms of the risks of ‘very frequent media use’. Here we carry out an explicit analysis to examine whether the Goldilocks hypothesis explains the relationship between internet use and being a cybervictim using data from Southern Thailand.…”

Does time spent using social media impact mental health?: An eight year longitudinal study

“…Several studies report associations between increased time spent on SNSs and heightened levels of adolescent depression and anxiety (Banjanin, Banjanin, Dimitrijevic, & Pantic, 2015;Barry, Sidoti, Briggs, Reiter, & Lindsey, 2017;Pantic et al, 2012;Woods & Scott, 2016), particularly among girls (Viner et al, 2019). The link between social media time use and mental health is also evidenced by high profile news articles with headlines such as "Have Smartphones Destroyed a Generation?"…”

Social media can harm when use displaces sleep or exercise or involves bullying, finds study

“…The frequency of social media use is unlikely to cause direct harm to young girls, but if use of it displaces sleep and exercise or involves cyberbullying then it can have a negative effect, a study concludes 1…”