Trendspotting: Teen Social Media Use Linked with Poor Mental Health

NewsWire: 3/1/22

• According to a new study, the correlation between social media use and poor mental health is larger than that between mental health and binge drinking. Heavy social media users are two to three times more likely to be depressed than non-users. (The Washington Post)
  
• NH: The researchers behind this new study are responding to a widely-cited Oxford University study that found the correlation between “screen time” and poor youth mental health was no worse than that associated with riding a bicycle or eating potatoes. “Screen time” in that study covered everything from watching TV to using social media to talking with friends on the phone, and the researchers suspected they would get different results if they focused specifically on social media.
• They were right. Turns out the correlation between social media use and poor mental health is very strong indeed, particularly among teen girls.
• The correlation is stronger than that between mental health and several other well-established behavioral risk factors for poor youth mental health: binge drinking, sexual assault, being suspended from school, and hard drug use. This lines up with previous research from the UK, which found that teens who spend hours on social media each day are two to three times more likely to be depressed than those who spend less than an hour.
• Correlation, of course, is not causation. It could be that depressed teens are more likely to spend time on social media, not that social media makes you depressed. But these findings, combined with recent reports on Instagram’s negative effects on teen girls, just add to social media’s ever-growing list of PR problems. (See “Americans Don’t Trust Big Tech.”)
• As the brand image of these companies trends increasingly negative, the calls for reform are turning into action. Just last week, legislators introduced a bipartisan bill that would require social media companies “to prevent and mitigate harm to minors” and offer the option to disable addictive features.