The growing evidence of social media’s toll on teen mental health

Mindlessly scrolling through endless feeds has become a seemingly endless source of pleasure for many. Yet, this addictive behavior comes at a significant cost. 

Studies from leading institutions, including the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), the University of Birmingham (UB), the University of Cambridge (UC), and the University of Oxford (UO), revealed a disturbing link between excessive social media use and heightened rates of depression and anxiety among teens.

MIT economist Alexey Makarin, UC and UB professors and psychologists Amy Orben and Andrew Przybylski suggest that social media use increases rates of depression and anxiety among teens, particularly during critical developmental stages such as puberty and young adulthood.

A 2017 study by Joao Fernandes Silva found that social media accounts for a staggering 79% of phone usage among young people. 

With the average teen spending over three hours daily on their phones, the cumulative impact is immense, according to the National Mapping and Resource Information Authority (NAMRIA).

This adds up to almost 45 days straight in a year, in front of a phone, using social media. Such many days that otherwise can be placed into other forms of mental rigor, and not mental rot.

This excessive screen time raises serious concerns about its effects on mental health, particularly during the critical developmental stages of adolescence. 

A 2022 study published in Nature Communications, involving researchers from UC and UB, analyzed data from over 17,400 teens and young adults. The findings revealed a clear correlation between increased social media use and lower well-being, especially during puberty and young adulthood.

This translated to lower well-being scores around ages 11 to 13 for girls and ages 14 to 15 for boys, with both groups also reporting a decline around age 19. 

“It would be really good to be able to target advice and tools and regulation to protect young people in particular,” Przybylski said in an interview with WIO News. 

Makarin has also contributed to this growing body of evidence, leading a team of researchers on 775 campuses in the United States. 

His research on college campuses revealed a correlation between the presence of Facebook and increased rates of depression among students.

“There is still a lot to be explored,” Makarin said, but “[to say] there is no causal evidence that social media causes mental health issues, to that I definitely object.”

Social media is not only a child’s platform – but an adult one as well. 

While the focus on social media's impact on the latter is prevalent, teens are the most vulnerable population. 

With over 90% of teens actively using social media, according to the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, the need for age-specific research is paramount.

The preference to focus on adults in social media research is alarming—when given the fact that over 90% of teens are on social media, according to American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.

“That needs to change… most of us are worried about our high school kids and younger,” Scott Cunningham of Baylor University said. 

As per UB pedagogical expert Victoria Goodyear, the rapid evolution of social media has outpaced research efforts.

Studies from Western countries have shed light on the issue, but research in countries like the Philippines is still emerging. 

A 2024 study by  Paolo Miguel Abad Santos and Jerome Cleofas of De La Salle University found a complex relationship between internet use and mental health among Filipino youth, with both positive and negative effects.

It was further found that the role of online social support is a pathway that affords the benefits of the Internet on mental health. 

The consensus among experts, however, is that more research is needed to fully understand the mechanisms behind social media's impact on teen well-being.

“Talking to teens… is the best way to get at the mechanisms by which social media influences well-being,” Goodyear said, seemingly furthering the progress on understanding the link between social media and mental well-being.