Time Spent By Adolescents on Social Media Linked to Mental Health Issues

Adolescents who spend more than three hours per day on social media may have more mental health issues, according to an observational study done on around 6,600 U.S. adolescents aged 12-15 years. After accounting for factors including a history of mental health problems, study authors report that adolescents who used social media more than three hours a day were more likely to report internalizing problems (these can include depression, anxiety and loneliness), as well as symptoms of both internalizing and externalizing (such as aggression and antisocial behavior) problems but not externalizing problems alone compared with adolescents who reported no social media use.

Limitations of the study include that time spent on social media and information about internalizing and externalizing problems were self-reported, and other factors not accounted for by study authors may help to explain the results.

Source-Eurekalert