A new NIH study reveals that the quality of friendships among teens has a greater impact on mental health than social media usage, suggesting a shift in focus for addressing youth well-being.
Teens who report strong, high-quality friendships tend to have better mental health outcomes, a finding nearly three times more influential than any link between social media use and mental health challenges. This is according to a new study funded by the Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) Program at the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
Today’s teenagers are more connected online than ever before, spending significant portions of their days on social media platforms. This trend has sparked widespread concern about the potential negative impacts on their mental well-being. The 2023 U.S. Surgeon General’s warning about social media’s potential effects on youth mental health added urgency to understanding these dynamics.
“Social media use does not occur in a vacuum — it’s one piece of a much larger picture,” corresponding author Courtney K. Blackwell, an associate professor at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine, said in a news release. “Our study found that peer relationships seem to matter a lot more than social media when it comes to teen mental health outcomes.”
In the research involving 963 teens aged 13 to 18 from across the United States, participants provided data on their social media habits, the quality of their friendships and various mental health indicators using recognized tools like the PROMIS® assessment and the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire.
Teens with strong, supportive friendships showcased better mental health, irrespective of their social media usage. Conversely, those with poor-quality friendships reported worse mental health, regardless of how much time they spent online.
Recent surveys highlighted the prevalence of social media among teens. In 2021, 8th and 10th graders reported an average of 3.5 hours daily on these platforms, a number that climbed to 4.8 hours daily in a 2023 Gallup survey of 13- to 19-year-olds. These insights underscore the importance of understanding the broader context of teen interactions both on- and offline.
The study’s results suggest that enhancing the quality of peer relationships could play a vital role in improving teens’ mental health.
“Instead of just focusing on limiting adolescents’ social media use, perhaps emphasizing ways to bolster the quality of their social relationships would help address the current youth mental health crisis in the U.S.,” Blackwell added.
Moving forward, the research team plans to delve deeper into how social media and mental health influence one another throughout adolescence. By tracking data over time, future studies might focus on developing strategies to improve peer relationship quality as a pathway to better mental health outcomes for teens.
This collaborative research, published in the Journal of Adolescent Health, paves the way for developing more nuanced approaches in addressing the escalating youth mental health crisis.
Source: Environmental Influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO)