Social media behaviors and symptoms of anxiety and depression. A four-wave cohort study from age 10–16 years.

Steinsbekk, Silje; Nesi, Jacqueline; Wichstrøm, Lars

doi:10.1016/j.chb.2023.107859

Cited by 8 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 109 publications

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“…Scientific investigations attempting to map how social media use relates to adolescent mental health have failed to provide much clarity. While converging evidence has established a small negative cross-sectional relationship between time spent on social media and well-being, 8–11 studies employing longitudinal designs, measuring social media use beyond “time spent” or quantifying mental health beyond general well-being have shown diverging results. Consequently, there remains much conflicting evidence about the relationship between social media use and anxiety or depression.…”

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confidence: 99%

Social media use and internalising symptoms in clinical and community adolescent samples: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Fassi,

Thomas,

Parry

et al. 2023

Preprint

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ImportanceThere are many concerns about the link between social media use and adolescent mental health. However, most research has studied adolescents from the general population, overlooking clinical groups. To address this gap, we synthesize, quantify and compare evidence on the relationship between social media use and internalising symptoms in adolescent clinical and community samples.Data SourcesWe searched five electronic databases for peer-reviewed publications (MEDLINE, Web of Science, PsychInfo, Scopus) and preprints (Europe PMC) published in English between 2007 and 2022.Study SelectionWe included cross-sectional and longitudinal studies quantifying the relationship between social media use and internalising symptoms, excluding experimental studies and randomised controlled trials. Two blinded reviewers initially identified 7389 studies.Data Extraction and SynthesisWe adhered to the PRISMA and MOOSE guidelines for selection and reporting. The data was pooled using a random-effect model and robust variance estimation. Two reviewers independently assessed the quality of evidence with the Quality of Survey Studies in Psychology Checklist.Main Outcomes and MeasuresWe preregistered our hypotheses and primary study outcomes on PROSPERO (CRD42022321473). Articles were included if they reported at least one quantitative measure of a) social media use: time spent, active vs. passive use, activity, content, user perception, and other; and b) internalising symptoms: anxiety, depression or both.ResultsWe reviewed 127 studies including 1,061,293 adolescents and 775 effect sizes, of which only 8% examined clinical samples. In these samples, we found a positive, significant yet small meta-correlation between social media use and internalising symptoms, both for time spent (N= 2893,r= .08,95% CI= [.01, .15],p= .033,I2= 57.83) and user engagement (N = 859;r= .12,95% CI= [.09, .15],p= .002,I2= 82.67). These associations mirrored those in community samples.Conclusions and RelevanceWe highlight a lack of research on clinical populations, a critical gap considering that public concerns centre on the increase in youth mental health symptoms at clinical levels. This paucity of evidence not only restricts the generalizability of existing research but also hinders our ability to effectively evaluate and compare the link between social media use and youth mental health.

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mentioning

confidence: 99%

Social media use and internalising symptoms in clinical and community adolescent samples: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Fassi,

Thomas,

Parry

et al. 2023

Preprint

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“…Two meta-analyses document an inconclusive relationship between active-passive SMU and mental health (Hancock et al, 2022;Yin et al, 2019), and the largest systematic review of 40 surveys, including 172 associations, revealed both active and passive use were mostly non-significantly related to mental health . These mixed findings extend to longitudinal surveys, which suggest no clear causal relationship between active and passive use and mental health (e.g., Steinsbekk et al, 2023;Zhang et al, 2020).…”

Section: Inconsistent Evidence On Active-passive Smu and Mental Healthmentioning

confidence: 81%

Beyond Active-Passive: Towards the Next Stage of Social Media and Mental Health Research

Meier,

Ellison,

Reinecke

et al. 2024

Preprint

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How social media impact users’ mental health and well-being is a critical question discussed fiercely by publics around the globe and researchers across disciplines. To overcome challenges of earlier “screen time” research, many recent studies adopted the active-passive approach. This model dichotomizes social media use into “active” social exchanges and “passive” consumption, with active use yielding social benefits and passive use resulting in harmful upward comparison and envy. Yet, this model has produced surprisingly inconsistent evidence, sparking recent theoretical debates and extensions. Here, we critically synthesize six remaining challenges for the active-passive approach and develop an agenda that outlines why and how the field needs to go beyond active-passive. Specifically, we envision three routes for future research alongside an integrated communication-centered model, which proposes to focus research efforts on message effects, cross-platform experiences, and technology features and affordances.

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From “online brains” to “online lives”: understanding the individualized impacts of Internet use across psychological, cognitive and social dimensions

Firth,

Torous,

López‐Gil

et al. 2024

World Psychiatry

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In response to the mass adoption and extensive usage of Internet‐enabled devices across the world, a major review published in this journal in 2019 examined the impact of Internet on human cognition, discussing the concepts and ideas behind the “online brain”. Since then, the online world has become further entwined with the fabric of society, and the extent to which we use such technologies has continued to grow. Furthermore, the research evidence on the ways in which Internet usage affects the human mind has advanced considerably. In this paper, we sought to draw upon the latest data from large‐scale epidemiological studies and systematic reviews, along with randomized controlled trials and qualitative research recently emerging on this topic, in order to now provide a multi‐dimensional overview of the impacts of Internet usage across psychological, cognitive and societal outcomes. Within this, we detail the empirical evidence on how effects differ according to various factors such as age, gender, and usage types. We also draw from new research examining more experiential aspects of individuals’ online lives, to understand how the specifics of their interactions with the Internet, and the impact on their lifestyle, determine the benefits or drawbacks of online time. Additionally, we explore how the nascent but intriguing areas of culturomics, artificial intelligence, virtual reality, and augmented reality are changing our understanding of how the Internet can interact with brain and behavior. Overall, the importance of taking an individualized and multi‐dimensional approach to how the Internet affects mental health, cognition and social functioning is clear. Furthermore, we emphasize the need for guidelines, policies and initiatives around Internet usage to make full use of the evidence available from neuroscientific, behavioral and societal levels of research presented herein.

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Social media behaviors and symptoms of anxiety and depression. A four-wave cohort study from age 10–16 years.

Cited by 8 publications

References 109 publications

Social media use and internalising symptoms in clinical and community adolescent samples: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Social media use and internalising symptoms in clinical and community adolescent samples: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Beyond Active-Passive: Towards the Next Stage of Social Media and Mental Health Research

From “online brains” to “online lives”: understanding the individualized impacts of Internet use across psychological, cognitive and social dimensions

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