What question did this study set out to answer?

The research aims to examine how social media use is associated with puberty timing, especially menarche in girls.

December 23, 20250 citationsOpen Access

Riskonnected: Social Media and Puberty in the UK

MAMargherita Agnoletto MGMarina Della Giusta SMSilvia Mendolia

Key Points

The research aims to examine how social media use is associated with puberty timing, especially menarche in girls.
Data from the Millennium Cohort Study, a longitudinal dataset tracking 19,000 UK children, was used.
The association between social media use and puberty timing was analyzed, focusing on girls.
The study explored mental health factors such as stress and anxiety as potential mediators.
Intensive social media use is significantly linked to earlier menarche in girls.
No clear association was found between social media use and male puberty markers.
The findings suggest mental health issues related to social media may influence puberty timing.

Abstract

Abstract We examine the association between intensive social media use and puberty timing,particularly earlier menarche in girls. Using data from the Millennium Cohort Study(MCS), a nationally representative longitudinal dataset tracking around 19,000 childrenin the UK, we analyse how digital engagement influences adolescent development. Ourresults show that intensive social media use is significantly associated with menarche ac-celeration in girls but has no clear association with male puberty markers. The likelymechanism behind this relationship is the negative association between social media andmental health, particularly stress and anxiety, which have both been linked to earliermenarche. Our findings highlight social media use itself as a potential risky behaviour,reinforcing concerns about its effects on adolescent well-being. JEL Codes: I12, I31, J13, J16

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Agnoletto et al. (Mon,) studied this question.

synapsesocial.com/papers/6949ddb572f746a93d789010 https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-7721718/v1

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