Associations between British teenagers’ mental health problems and frequent social media use differed by sex, with cyberbullying an important mediating factor in girls but less so in boys, researchers said.
Loss of sleep and reduced physical activity also appeared to drive psychological distress in girls who went on social media many times daily, reported Russell Viner, PhD, of University College London, and colleagues in The Lancet Child & Adolescent Health.
Checking social media three or more times a day was associated with a higher likelihood of psychological distress in teen girls (odds ratio 1.31, 95% CI 1.06-1.63) and boys (OR 1.67, 95% CI 1.24-2.26) compared to those with once-daily use.
But after adjusting for cyberbullying, sleep levels, and physical activity, researchers found that the associations between very frequent social media use and psychological distress were no longer significant in girls.
“The links between social media and poorer mental health and poorer wellbeing are much less strong than for cyberbullying, inadequate sleep or inadequate exercise,” Viner told MedPage Today in an email. “We did find an effect for social media on poorer mental health, but much less than for the other variables.”
In boys, however, adjustments for cyberbullying, sleep loss, and physical activity measures did not markedly diminish the association between frequent social media use and mental distress, indicating that some other factor or factors are responsible.
There is growing concern that social media use may lead to anxiety or depression, Viner said. However, a lack of evidence led Viner to explore potential mechanisms behind the association of social media and mental health.
In an accompanying editorial, Ann DeSmet, PhD, of Ghent University in Belgium, said that heavy social media use among young people should not automatically be viewed as negative. The effect of indirect mediators, such as cyberbullying, sleep, and exercise, should be taken into consideration of how social media affects mental health.
“If the displacement of healthy lifestyles and cyberbullying can be attenuated, the positive effects of social media use, such as encouraging social interactions, can be endorsed,” DeSmet wrote.
Study details
Researchers obtained data from the first three waves of the Our Futures Study, the second cohort of the Longitudinal Study of Young People in England (LSYPE2). The original study followed almost 13,000 young people for three school years, spanning from 2013 to 2015. The teens involved were followed from around ages 13 to 16.
Psychological distress was assessed using the 12-item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ12) in the second year of the study. During year three, researchers used a survey to assess personal wellbeing, which asked participants about their life satisfaction, overall happiness, and anxiety. Participants self-reported how often they checked social media, exposure to cyberbullying, sleep levels, and physical activity. Inadequate sleep was defined as less than 8 hours.
Of the 13,000 participants of the original study, data on the frequency of social media use during year 1 and GHQ12 scores at year 2 were available for 9,552 (74%). In the wellbeing analysis taken during year 3, data on social media use were available for 7,922 (72%) of the total participants interviewed in year 2.
Across the three years of the study, very frequent use of social media jumped from 34.4% to 61.9% in boys, and 51.4% to 75.4% in girls.
Compared to less frequent users, girls who used social media very frequently across the first two waves had a higher likelihood of decreased life satisfaction (OR 0.86, 95% CI 0.74-0.99), decreased happiness (OR 0.80, 95% CI 0.70-0.92), and increased anxiety (OR 1.28, 95% CI 1.11-1.48) at year 3.
After mediation analysis, researchers found that cyberbullying and inadequate sleep were significant predictors of a high GHQ12 score in girls. Associations between very frequent social media use and physical activity were non-significant. The overall proportion of the effect mediated by cyberbullying, sleep, and physical activity was 58.2%, with cyberbullying having the largest contribution (33.4%). In contrast, those factors mediated only 12.1% of the association in boys.
Although this research offers an alternative perspective of the mechanisms that may lead to social-media-related mental health disorders, Christopher Ferguson, PhD, of Stetson University in DeLand, Florida, said this study is limited by the dependence on self-reported data and the lack of control for participants with preexisting mental health issues.
“The idea that social media might have indirect effects is a fairly intuitive one,” Ferguson told MedPage Today in an email. “Thus, I am surprised that the data presented don’t provide better evidence for an effect.”
Study authors also noted that the use of data only on the frequency of social media use, as opposed to time spent on social networks, is another limitation of the research.
Authors reported no conflicts of interest.
Source: MedicalNewsToday.com
