Social Media Use and Adolescent Well-Being: A Narrative Review of Longitudinal Studies

The effect of social media use on mental health of college students during the pandemic

Social media is viewed to be a key contributor to worsening mental health in adolescents, as most recently reflected in a public health advisory by the US Surgeon General. We provide new evidence on the causal effects of social media on mental health of college students during the Covid-19 pandemic, exploiting unique, longitudinal data collected before the Covid-19 pandemic began and at two points during the pandemic. We find small insignificant effects of social media 4 months into the pandemic during a period of social distancing, but large statistically significant negative effects 18 months into the pandemic when colleges were mostly back to normal operations. Using rich data on substance use, exercise, sleep, stress, and social support, we find some evidence of substitution away from activities that better support mental health at later stages of the pandemic but not at early stages. We find that the negative effects of social media are mostly concentrated among socially-isolated students. Both social support and resilience protect students from the negative effects of social media use. Policy implications include regulating social media while also bolstering social support and resilience as important protective factors.

Real-world adolescent smartphone use is associated with improvements in mood: An ecological momentary assessment study

OBJECTIVE

Rates of adolescent mood disorders and adolescent smartphone use have risen in parallel, leading some to suggest that smartphone use might have detrimental effects on adolescents' moods. Alternatively, it is possible that adolescents turn to smartphone use when experiencing negative mood. The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between adolescent smartphone use and mood using a longitudinal methodology that measured both in real-time.

METHOD

This study used an Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA) procedure completed by 253 12-17-year old participants from across the United States. Participants received short surveys delivered to their smartphones at random points throughout the day. Measures included real-time, in-situ assessments of smartphone use, current mood, and mood before smartphone use.

RESULTS

Based on tests of a multilevel regression model, adolescent moods were positively associated with smartphone use (β = 0.261, F(1,259.49) = 19.120, p < 0.001), and that mood was positively associated with the length of phone use sessions (length of phone use β = 0.100, F(1, 112.88) = 5.616, p = 0.020). Participants also reported significant changes in mood during phone use, such that moods before phone use were significantly lower than moods during phone use (MChange = 0.539, t(2491) = 23.174, p < 0.001). Change in mood (mood before minus mood during phone use) was positively associated with the length of smartphone use sessions (β = 0.097, F(1,122.20) = 4.178, p = 0.043), such that participants who had a higher change in mood were more likely to report a longer length of smartphone use.

CONCLUSIONS

Findings suggest that adolescent smartphone use is positively associated with mood. This finding may suggest that adolescents use smartphones for mood modification, which aligns with an understanding of smartphone use as potentially addictive behavior.

Longitudinal Problematic Social Media Use in Students and Its Association with Negative Mental Health Outcomes

Purpose

Social media has become increasingly part of our everyday lives and is influential in shaping the habits, sociability, and mental health of individuals, particularly among students. This study aimed to examine the relationship between changes over time in problematic social media use and mental health outcomes in students. We also investigated whether resilience and loneliness moderated the relationship between social media use and mental health.

Patients and Methods

A total of 103 participants completed a baseline virtual study visit, and 78 participants completed a follow-up visit, 4-weeks later. Participants completed a comprehensive set of questionnaires measuring symptoms of depression and anxiety, perceived stress, loneliness, and resilience.

Results

Our results showed that problematic social media use at baseline was significantly negatively correlated with resilience and positively correlated with all other mental health outcomes. Furthermore, increases in problematic social media use were significantly associated with increased depressive symptoms and loneliness between visits. Resilience significantly moderated the relationship between increased problematic social media use and heightened perceived stress. Poor mental health at baseline did not predict increased problematic social media use over time. Contrarily to problematic use, frequency of social media use was not significantly correlated with any mental health measures at baseline.

Conclusion

This study offers a longitudinal perspective, providing valuable insights into the potential protective role of resilience against the detrimental mental health effects seen with increases in problematic social media use.

Examining the Association Between Digital Stress Components and Psychological Wellbeing: A Meta-Analysis

Extant research suggests that digital stress (DS) and its various components (Hall et al. in Psychol Assess 33(3):230-242, 2021) may mediate the association between social media use and psychosocial distress among adolescents and young adults. Yet no systematic review and meta-analysis has been conducted to examine the direct associations among DS components (i.e., approval anxiety, availability stress, fear of missing out [FOMO], connection overload, and online vigilance) and psychological outcomes. Thus, we aimed to comprehensively synthesize and quantify the association between these five DS components and psychosocial distress, and to examine whether these associations were statistically different from one another. Our search of PubMed, PsycINFO, and Communication and Mass Media Complete yielded a wide range of article abstracts across the five DS components. After reviewing inclusion and exclusion criteria, 7, 73, 60, 19, and 16 studies were included for availability stress, approval anxiety, FOMO, connection overload, and online vigilance, respectively. The results suggested that all five digital stress components had significant medium association with psychosocial distress (r = .26 to .34; p < .001). Age and sex did not significantly moderate the association between most digital stress components and psychosocial distress. However, age moderated the association between connection overload and psychosocial distress. Our findings further suggested no statistical differences among the associations between the five digital stress components and psychosocial distress. Notwithstanding its limitations, our outcomes help integrate the disparate effect sizes in the literature, indicate the strength of associations, and suggest directions for clinical intervention and future research.

Adolescent Perception of Mental Health: It's Not Only about Oneself, It's about Others Too

Adolescents are at an increased risk of mental health problems due to the natural processes of development and maturation. Given that their mental health is mainly assessed by adults and not by the adolescents themselves, the purpose of this study is to reveal adolescents' perceptions of mental health. Semi-structured, in-depth interviews were conducted, and an inductive qualitative approach with thematic analysis was used. The qualitative study consisted of 19 adolescents aged 11-17 years. Five themes were identified: (1) What does mental health mean to you? (subthemes: realm of emotions, customary behavior, and relationships with others); (2) needs (subthemes: communication and support, self-expression and freedom of decision-making, and a safe and personal environment); (3) risk factors (subthemes: un-healthy relationships and social media dangers); (4) red flags (subthemes: self-exclusion from social life and self-destructive behavior); and (5) role of mental health professionals (subthemes: attentiveness to and proper pace for adolescent and acceptance of adolescent's life in its entirety). This study revealed that adolescents view their mental health not only from their own emotional and behavioral perspectives but also through the prism of relationships with other people.

Global prevalence of self-harm during the COVID-19 pandemic: a systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND

COVID-19 and its transmission mitigation measures have caused widespread mental health problems. Previous studies have suggested that psychological, economic, behavioral, and psychosocial problems associated with the COVID-19 pandemic may lead to a rise in self-harm. However, little is known about the prevalence of self-harm worldwide during COVID-19. Therefore, a quantitative synthesis is needed to reach an overall conclusion regarding the prevalence of self-harm during the pandemic.

METHODS

By using permutations of COVID-19, self-harm or relevant search terms, we searched the following electronic databases from November 2019 to January 2022: Web of Science, PubMed, MEDLINE, Embase, PsycINFO, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), Wanfang Database and systematically reviewed the evidence according to MOOSE guidelines. We employed Cochran's chi-squared test (Cochran's Q), I²test and subgroup analysis to assess and address the heterogeneity. Sensitivity analysis was conducted by eliminating each included study individually and then combining the effects.

RESULTS

Sixteen studies that met the inclusion and exclusion criteria were identified, with sample sizes ranging from 228 to 49,227. The methodological quality of the included studies was mostly at the medium level. By using a random effect model, the pooled prevalence of self-harm was 15.8% (95% CI 13.3-18.3). Based on subgroup analysis, the following characteristics of the included studies were more likely to have a higher prevalence of self-harm: studies conducted in Asia or prior to July 2020, cross-sectional studies, samples recruited in hospitals or schools, adolescents, females, the purpose of self-harm (NSSI), mental symptoms and restriction experiences.

CONCLUSIONS

We provided the first meta-analytic estimated prevalence of self-harm based on a large sample from different countries and populations. The prevalence of self-harm during COVID-19 was not encouraging and requires attention and intervention. Further high-quality and prospective research are needed in order to determine the prevalence of self-harm with greater accuracy because to the clear heterogeneity across the included studies. In addition, this study also provides new directions for future research, including the identification of high-risk groups for self-harm, the formulation and implementation of prevention and intervention programs, and the long-term impact of COVID-19 on self-harm.

The Longitudinal Impact of Social Media Use on UK Adolescents' Mental Health: Longitudinal Observational Study

BACKGROUND

Cross-sectional studies have found a relationship between social media use and depression and anxiety in young people. However, few longitudinal studies using representative data and mediation analysis have been conducted to understand the causal pathways of this relationship.

OBJECTIVE

This study aims to examine the longitudinal relationship between social media use and young people's mental health and the role of self-esteem and social connectedness as potential mediators.

METHODS

The sample included 3228 participants who were 10- to 15-year-olds from Understanding Society (2009-2019), a UK longitudinal household survey. The number of hours spent on social media was measured on a 5-point scale from "none" to "7 or more hours" at the ages of 12-13 years. Self-esteem and social connectedness (number of friends and happiness with friendships) were measured at the ages of 13-14 years. Mental health problems measured by the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire were assessed at the ages of 14-15 years. Covariates included demographic and household variables. Unadjusted and adjusted multilevel linear regression models were used to estimate the association between social media use and mental health. We used path analysis with structural equation modeling to investigate the mediation pathways.

RESULTS

In adjusted analysis, there was a nonsignificant linear trend showing that more time spent on social media was related to poorer mental health 2 years later (n=2603, β=.21, 95% CI 0.43 to 0.84; P=.52). In an unadjusted path analysis, 68% of the effect of social media use on mental health was mediated by self-esteem (indirect effect, n=2569, β=.70, 95% CI 0.15-1.30; P=.02). This effect was attenuated in the adjusted analysis, and it was found that self-esteem was no longer a significant mediator (indirect effect, n=2316, β=.24, 95% CI 0.12 to 0.66; P=.22). We did not find evidence that the association between social media and mental health was mediated by social connectedness. Similar results were found in imputed data.

CONCLUSIONS

There was little evidence to suggest that more time spent on social media was associated with later mental health problems in UK adolescents. This study shows the importance of longitudinal studies to examine this relationship and suggests that prevention strategies and interventions to improve mental health associated with social media use could consider the role of factors like self-esteem.

Social media use as a coping mechanism during the COVID-19 pandemic: A multidimensional perspective on adolescents' well-being

Introduction

Social media use was previously characterized as both a maladaptive coping mechanism, and a source of engagement with peers, suggesting an ambivalent effect. The present study explored how adolescents might use social media as a coping mechanism during the COVID-19 pandemic, using a multidimensional perspective on well-being.

Methods

Our sample consisted of 259 Romanian teenagers aged 11-16 (M = 13.38, SD = 0.93, 57% males). We investigated the potential indirect effect of social media use, i.e., its cognitive, affective, and behavioral dimensions on the relationship between depressive symptoms and adolescents' well-being.

Results

Across all mediation analyses, our results suggested that social media use positively predicted adolescents' well-being. Given the multidimensional approach to both social media use and well-being, our findings suggested that adolescents' well-being was predicted not only by actual social media use behaviors but also by cognitions related to the expectation of receiving gratification on social media and the intense affective states related to the desire to use social media. Also, our data suggested that adolescents with high levels of depressive symptoms might be more likely to capitalize on social media use and have expectations related to receiving approval from others in the context of social media use.

Discussion

Depressive symptoms might be more relevant when explaining the cognitive and affective involvement during social media use. However, their ability to predict the actual social media use behaviors may be limited. Furthermore, adolescents that present depressive symptoms might be more prone to use social media, in order to improve their well-being.

Perception and use of social media by Indonesian adolescents and parents: A qualitative study

Social media are popular among adolescents worldwide, including the global South. The way adolescents use social media is influenced by their own perception of social media but also by how their parents use and perceive social media. This study aims to understand how Indonesian young adolescents (12-15 years old) and parents of adolescents use and perceive social media. For this purpose, we conducted eight focus group discussions and eight semi-structured interviews with 30 Indonesian adolescents and 15 Indonesian parents. Thematic analysis of the qualitative data reveals that both adolescents and parents use social media for social, practical, and pleasure activities. Most adolescents mention that they consider themselves skilled in using social media, while parents consider themselves less skilled. Both adolescents and parents mention that social media offer benefits for adolescents, including emotional, social, and practical benefits. However, adolescents and parents also mention the risks of social media use for adolescents, including social, emotional, and informational risks, as well as the displacement of more meaningful activities. As such, both adolescents and parents do not perceive social media as inherently good or bad but rather as a novel medium that offers benefits for adolescents but also involves several risks to be considered by parents and other relevant stakeholders. This study adds to our understanding of social media use in the global South and offers a theoretical basis for future studies on the impact of adolescents' social media usage on wellbeing in an Indonesian context. However, future research is necessary to depict possible differences in social media use between Indonesia and other countries in the global South.

A three-wave panel study on longitudinal relations between problematic social media use and psychological distress during the COVID-19 pandemic

BACKGROUND

It still remains unclear whether problematic social media use (PSMU) is a cause or a consequence of psychological distress. The present study aimed to investigate the temporal relationships between PSMU and psychological distress through a three-wave panel study (between April and July 2020, with an interval of 1 month between each period of time).

METHODS

3,912 adult Italian participants were surveyed during the COVID-19 pandemic for psychological distress (Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale) and PSMU (Bergen Social Media Addiction Scale). Random-Intercept Cross-Lagged Panel Models were applied to disaggregate between-person from within-person associations as regards PSMU and an individual's distress.

RESULTS

On a between-person level we found that adults with higher PSMU also reported heightened levels of psychological distress across the three waves. However, on a within-person level, no cross-lagged associations were found between changes in distress and subsequent changes in PSMU and vice versa. The results were largely unchanged with the inclusion of participants' gender and age or COVID-19-related fears as covariates, and when the three subscales of depression, anxiety and stress were examined in separate models.

CONCLUSIONS

The current study suggests that the link between PSMU and psychological distress is mainly driven by trait-like differences and not by state-like individual changes over time.

Adolescents and social media: The effects of frequency of use, self-presentation, social comparison, and self esteem on possible self imagery

INTRODUCTION

American adolescents continue to show a strong social media presence. This presence entails consistent monitoring of how they present themselves, and how that presentation compares to others, which in turn impacts the versions of the self they share with others. These versions include their hoped for (e.g. high academic achiever) or feared selves (e.g. inconsistent academic achiever) which have been referred to as possible selves. Here, we explored the contributions of social media use, self-presentation, social comparison, and self-esteem on adolescents' reflection of their possible selves. We also examined age as a factor to determine whether early and late adolescents reflect on and craft their social media presence in similar fashions. Ideally, all adolescents would seek to share a balance of possible selves whereby their social media presence includes both a hoped for self and a feared self in the same aspect of their lives (e.g. academic achievement and failure). These balances have been linked to positive outcomes in offline contexts.

METHODS

We explored the relative contributions of age, self-esteem, social media use, online self-presentation behaviors, and online social comparison tendencies to the ideation of balanced possible selves among 152 adolescents aged 11 to 18 years (55.9% female). We also included an exploratory analysis of gender differences within the content of possible selves reported.

RESULTS

The results of a sequential regression analysis, regressing the balance of possible selves on each of the independent variables, yielded no significant differences. A chi square analysis, however, revealed differences among males and females in the content of feared selves as female participants reported more feared selves involving interpersonal relationships than males.

CONCLUSION

Further exploration of possible selves in the digital context is warranted given our findings that adolescent females, in particular, focus on interpersonal relationships as they develop their self-esteem and self-concept.

Reciprocal Relationships Between Problematic Social Media Use, Problematic Gaming, and Psychological Distress Among University Students: A 9-Month Longitudinal Study

Background

The causal relationships between two specific types of problematic use in internet-related activities [i.e., problematic social media use (PSMU) and problematic gaming (PG)] and psychological distress remain controversial. The present study investigated the temporal relationships between PSMU, PG, and psychological distress (i.e., anxiety, depression) in university students.

Methods

Hong Kong and Taiwan university students [N = 645; n_male = 266; mean = 20.95 years (SD = 5.63)] were recruited for a survey study, with follow-ups at 3, 6, and 9 months after baseline assessment. The Bergen Social Media Addiction Scale, Internet Gaming Disorder Scale-Short Form, and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale were used to assess studied variables. Demographics including age, physical characteristics (i.e., height, weight, and body mass index), and cigarette use were compared between participants who completed all the follow-ups and those who dropped out. Random intercept cross-lagged models were constructed to understand the reciprocal relationships between PSMU, PG, and psychological distress.

Results

No significant differences were found in age, physical characteristics, and cigarette use between participants who completed all the follow-ups and those who dropped out. Findings indicated that a high level of PSMU significantly increased the level of anxiety and a high level of anxiety significantly increased the level of PSMU. A high level of PSMU significantly increased the level of depression but the level of depression did not significantly affect the level of PSMU. A high level of PG significantly increased the level of anxiety, but the level of anxiety did not significantly affect the level of PG. A high level of depression significantly increased the level of PG, but the level of depression did not significantly affect the level of PG.

Conclusion

The patterns of the causal relationship between PIU and psychological distress variables differ. A reciprocal relationship was only found between the level of PSMU and the level of anxiety. Moreover, the longitudinal design found no differences in the waves in terms of gaming by the participants.

Longitudinal associations between appearance-related social media consciousness and adolescents' depressive symptoms

INTRODUCTION

Frequent social media use among adolescents is associated with depressive symptoms, though prior work has overwhelmingly used cross-sectional designs and focused on "screen time." Subjective social media experiences, such as the concern with one's physical appearance on social media, may be more relevant to adolescents' depressive symptoms than mere frequency of use. Appearance-related social media consciousness (ASMC) is the preoccupation with one's physical attractiveness in social media photos and has been associated with depressive symptoms above and beyond frequency of social media use in prior cross-sectional work.

METHODS

In this brief report, we assessed this association longitudinally over 1 year within a diverse sample of highschool adolescents in the Southeastern US (n = 163, M age = 16.19; 55.8% girls; 44.8% White, 23.9% Black, 26.4% Hispanic/Latinx; 49.7% received free or reduced-price lunch).

RESULTS

Baseline ASMC was associated with higher depressive symptoms 1 year later, even when controlling for time spent on social media. Although girls reported higher levels of ASMC, associations were similar for adolescent boys and girls. No evidence was found that heightened depressive symptoms at baseline were associated with higher ASMC 1 year later.

CONCLUSIONS

The findings highlight the importance of physical appearance concerns on social media-above and beyond the frequency of use-in the development of depressive symptoms among adolescents. Implications for future research to examine the role of subjective social media experiences in adolescents' depressive symptoms are discussed.

Dynamics of adolescents' smartphone use and well-being are positive but ephemeral

Well-being and smartphone use are thought to influence each other. However, previous studies mainly focused on one direction (looking at the effects of smartphone use on well-being) and considered between-person effects, with self-reported measures of smartphone use. By using 2548 assessments of well-being and trace data of smartphone use collected for 45 consecutive days in 82 adolescent participants (Mage = 13.47, SDage = 1.62, 54% females), the present study disentangled the reciprocal and individual dynamics of well-being and smartphone use. Hierarchical Bayesian Continuous Time Dynamic Models were used to estimate how a change in frequency and duration of smartphone use predicted a later change in well-being, and vice versa. Results revealed that (i) when participants used the smartphone frequently and for a longer period, they also reported higher levels of well-being; (ii) well-being positively predicted subsequent duration of smartphone use; (iii) usage patterns and system dynamics showed heterogeneity, with many subjects showing reciprocal effects close to zero; finally, (iv) changes in well-being tend to persist longer than changes in the frequency and duration of smartphone use.

Social media and well-being: A methodological perspective

Due to the methodological challenges inherent in studying social media use (SMU), as well as the methodological choices that have shaped research into the effects of SMU on well-being, clear conclusions regarding relationships between SMU and well-being remain elusive. We provide a review of five methodological developments poised to provide increased understanding in this domain: (a) increased use of longitudinal and experimental designs; (b) the adoption of behavioural (rather than self-report) measures of SMU; (c) focusing on more nuanced aspects of SMU; (d) embracing effect heterogeneity; and (e) the use of formal modelling and machine learning. We focus on how these advances stand to bring us closer to understanding relations between SMU and well-being, as well as the challenges associated with these developments.

Social media use and its impact on adolescent mental health: An umbrella review of the evidence

Literature reviews on how social media use affects adolescent mental health have accumulated at an unprecedented rate of late. Yet, a higher-level integration of the evidence is still lacking. We fill this gap with an up-to-date umbrella review, a review of reviews published between 2019 and mid-2021. Our search yielded 25 reviews: seven meta-analyses, nine systematic, and nine narrative reviews. Results showed that most reviews interpreted the associations between social media use and mental health as 'weak' or 'inconsistent,' whereas a few qualified the same associations as 'substantial' and 'deleterious.' We summarize the gaps identified in the reviews, provide an explanation for their diverging interpretations, and suggest several avenues for future research.