A new study led by the University of Cambridge has found that adolescents with mental health conditions, such as anxiety and depression, use social media differently than their peers. The findings highlight the unique challenges these young people face and underscore the need for targeted interventions.
Adolescents with diagnosable mental health conditions exhibit distinct patterns of social media use compared to their peers without such conditions, according to a recent study led by the University of Cambridge.
The study, which analyzed data from 3,340 adolescents in the UK, reveals that young people with conditions like anxiety and depression are more prone to dissatisfaction with online friend counts and spend more time on social media platforms.
Led by the Medical Research Council Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit (MRC CBU) at the University of Cambridge, the study surveyed youths aged 11 to 19 and found that those with mental health challenges reported spending an average of 50 minutes more on social media daily compared to their peers. This increased usage is associated with higher levels of social comparison and fluctuations in mood based on social media interactions.
“The link between social media use and youth mental health is hotly debated, but hardly any studies look at young people already struggling with clinical-level mental health symptoms,” lead author Luisa Fassi, a researcher at Cambridge’s MRC CBU, said in a news release. “Our study doesn’t establish a causal link, but it does show that young people with mental health conditions use social media differently than young people without a condition.”
Published in the journal Nature Human Behaviour, the research highlights that adolescents with internalizing conditions, such as anxiety, depression and PTSD, report heightened social comparison and mood changes in response to likes and comments.
For example, social comparison was noted by 48% of adolescents with internalizing conditions, nearly double that of their peers without mental health conditions, who reported this behavior at 24%.
Fassi noted the critical role of these interactions in shaping adolescent identity.
“Friendships are crucial during adolescence as they shape identity development,” she added. “Social media platforms assign a concrete number to friendships, making social comparisons more conspicuous. For young people struggling with mental health conditions, this may increase existing feelings of rejection or inadequacy.”
While most variances were observed in adolescents with internalizing conditions, the study also noted increased social media usage across all mental health conditions compared to those without.
Participants with any mental health condition report using social media “three to four hours” on a typical day, compared to their peers without a condition averaging between “one to two hours” and “two to three hours.”
“Our findings provide important insights for clinical practice and could help to inform future guidelines for early intervention,” added senior author Amy Orben, a program leader track scientist at Cambridge’s MRC CBU. “However, this study has only scratched the surface of the complex interplay between social media use and mental health.”
The study is unique in its use of multi-informant clinical assessments, where mental health conditions were evaluated by professional clinical raters through interviews with young people, parents, and teachers.
Moving forward, the researchers advocate for more comprehensive investigations combining experimental designs with objective social media data. This approach is crucial for understanding how different online activities impact young people with a variety of mental health conditions.
“A huge question like this needs lots of research that combines experimental designs with objective social media data on what young people are actually seeing and doing online,” concluded Fassi. “We need to understand how different types of social media content and activities affect young people with a range of mental health conditions, such as those living with eating disorders, ADHD or depression.”
As discussions around the impact of social media on youth mental health continue, this study underscores the importance of considering the unique challenges faced by adolescents with mental health conditions and tailoring interventions to better support their needs.
Source: University of Cambridge