Long-Term Consequences of Time Spent on Social Media in Adolescence on Mental Health in Young Adulthood: A Cohort Study From Sweden

This is the authors' abstract. We don't add key points for this paper.

PURPOSE: There are growing concerns that social media may negatively impact adolescents' mental health. However, most studies are cross-sectional, or short-term longitudinal studies, limiting conclusions about long-term effects. We examined if time spent on social media at age 15/16 is positively associated with symptoms of depression and anxiety 5 years later, and explored effect modification by gender, socioeconomic status, and physical activity. METHODS: We analyzed data from a nationally representative cohort of Swedish adolescents. In 2017, 5,535 ninth-grade students (age 15/16) completed a self-report survey. In 2022, 3,193 completed a follow-up assessment. The number of hours per day on social media was self-reported; depression and anxiety were measured using the Patient Health Questionnaire-4. RESULTS: In unadjusted linear regression models, time spent on social media at age 15/16 was positively associated with anxiety and depression 5 years later, but these associations were no longer significant after adjusting for confounders (b = -0.00, 95% confidence interval: -0.03,0.03; b = 0.02, 95% confidence interval: -0.00,0.05). No significant effect modification by gender, socioeconomic status, or physical activity was observed. DISCUSSION: Although initial findings suggested a link between time spent on social media and later mental health symptoms, the associations did not persist after adjustment for confounders. This indicates that time spent on social media may have limited long-term effects on mental health. These findings are, however, limited to self-reported time spent on social media and further investigation into different types of social media activities are needed to better understand how social media use should be regulated.