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Social Media Use and Symptoms of Anxiety and Depressed Mood among Adolescents

Year: 2020
Type: dissertation
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: Many studies have found a relationship between social media use and symptoms \nof emotional distress, such as depression and anxiety. However, the existing research \nlacks longitudinal analyses, a thorough understanding of the possible mechanisms \ninvolved in this relationship, and if they appear to be similar for girls and boys. This \nThesis extends previous research by examining longitudinally the association between \nsocial media use and symptoms of emotional distress among a cohort of adolescents, as \nwell as the possible mechanisms involved. The specific aims of the Thesis were to 1) \nexamine changes in symptoms of anxiety and depressed mood among male and female \nadolescents in Iceland from 2006 to 2016; 2) examine longitudinally the association \nbetween time spent on social media and symptoms of anxiety and depressed mood; 3) \nexamine active and passive social media use and how different types of social media use \nrelate to symptoms of anxiety and depressed mood. Cross-sectional data among \nparticipants in the eighth to tenth grade from compulsory schools in Iceland and \nlongitudinal data from a cohort of adolescents born in 2004 were used in the analyses. \nData were analyzed using analysis of variance, linear regression, binomial logistic \nregression, hierarchical linear regression, and mixed model design. When looking at \npatterns based on cut-off scores, the proportion of adolescents reporting high symptoms \nof depressed mood increased over time by 1.6% and 6.8% for girls and boys, \nrespectively, and high symptoms of anxiety increased by 1.3% for boys and 8.6% for \ngirls. Mean level change in these symptoms significantly increased for girls, but \nsymptoms of anxiety decreased for boys. The interaction between time spent on social \nmedia and time was significant for symptoms of depressed mood and physical symptoms \nof anxiety, and the relationship between time spent on social media and all three \npsychological distress outcomes was significantly stronger for girls than boys. Passive \nsocial media use related to greater symptoms of emotional distress and active social \nmedia use to fewer symptoms. After adding known risk and protective factors to the \nanalyses, only passive social media use remained significant for emotional distress. Time \nspent on social media had a stronger relationship with emotional distress for girls than \nboys. Overall, the findings reveal that there is an increase in symptoms of emotional \ndistress among adolescents and that social media use is associated with these symptoms. \nIt is important to examine further the different types of social media use instead of \nfocusing on time spent on social media alone, as well as taking individual factors and \ngender into account. A deeper understanding of the possible risks and benefits involved \nin social media use, however, will be necessary if social media is to play a greater role in \nfostering healthy relationships and connections.
Language: English
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W3101619053
Cites: 66
Cited by: 1
Related to: 10