Adolescents with mental health problems use social media differently from their peers, suggests the study

Young people with a state of diagnose mental health report differences in their social media experiences compared to those without condition, including greater dissatisfaction with the number of online friends and more time spent on social media sites.

This is according to a new study led by the University of Cambridge, which suggests that adolescents with conditions of internalization such as anxiety and depression report that social media are particularly affected by social media.

Young people suffering from these conditions are more likely to point out to compare themselves to others on social networks, feeling a lack of self -control over time spent on platforms, as well as mood changes due to tastes and comments received.

The researchers found that adolescents with a mental health report to social networks more time than those without mental health problems, an average of about 50 minutes during a typical day.

The study, led by the cognition and brain sciences (MRC CBU) of Cambridge Research Council, analyzed the data of a survey of 3,340 adolescents in the United Kingdom aged 11 to 19, carried out by NHS Digital in 2017.

This is one of the first studies on the use of social media in adolescents to use multi-information clinical mental health clinical assessments. These were produced by professional clinical assessors questioning young people, as well as their parents and their teachers in some cases.

“The link between the use of social media and the mental health of young people is strongly debated, but almost no study is already embarking on young people struggling with symptoms of mental health at the clinical level,” said Luisa Fassi, researcher at the MRC CBU of Cambridge and author of the study, published in the journal in the journal Nature Human behavior.

“Our study does not establish a causal link, but it shows that young people suffering from mental health problems use social media differently from young people with no condition.

“This could be due to the fact that mental health problems shape how adolescents interact with online platforms, or perhaps the use of social media contributes to their symptoms. At this stage, we cannot say who comes first – only that these differences exist,” said Fassi.

The researchers have developed high references for the study on the basis of existing research on sleep, physical activity and mental health. Only results with association levels comparable to the way sleep and exercise differ between people with and without mental health problems have been deemed significant.

Although mental health was measured with clinical assessments, the use of social media came from questionnaires filled with study participants, which were not questioned on specific platforms.

In addition to the time spent on social networks, all mental health conditions were linked to greater dissatisfaction with the number of online friends. “Friendships are crucial during adolescence because they shape the development of identity,” said Fassi.

“Social media platforms attribute a concrete number to friendships, making social comparisons more visible. For young people with mental health problems, this can increase feelings of rejection or insufficiency.”

The researchers examined the differences in the use of social media between young people with internalization conditions, such as anxiety, depression and the SSPT, and the conditions of exteriorization, such as ADHD or driving disorders.

The majority of differences in the use of social media have been reported by young people with conditions of internalization. For example, the “social comparison” – consisting with others online – was twice as high in adolescents with internalization conditions (48%, approximately one in two) than for those without mental health (24%, approximately one in four).

Adolescents with internalization conditions were also more likely to report mood changes in response to the feedback of social media (28%, approximately 1 in 4) compared to those without mental health (13%, approximately 1 in 8). They also pointed out lower levels of self -control during the time spent on social networks and a reduced desire to be honest about their online emotional state.

“Some of the differences in the way young people suffering from anxiety and depression use social media reflect what we already know about their offline experiences. Social comparison is a well -documented part of daily life for these young people, and our study shows that this model also extends to their online world,” said Fassi.

On the other hand, apart from the time spent on social networks, the researchers have found few differences between young people with conditions of exteriorization and those without condition.

“Our results provide important information for clinical practice and could help to clarify future directives for early intervention,” said Dr. Amy Orben de Cambridge, principal of the study.

“However, this study only scraped the surface of the complex interaction between the use of social media and mental health. The fact that this is one of the first high -scale and high quality studies of this type shows the lack of systemic investment in this space.”

Fassi has added: “So many factors can be the cause of the reason why someone is developing a mental health problem, and it is very difficult to know if the use of social media is one of them.”

“A huge question like this requires many research that combines experimental conceptions with objective data on social networks on what young people see and really do online.”

“We must understand how the different types of content and activities on social networks affect young people with a range of mental health problems, such as those who live with food disorders, ADHD or depression. Without including these sub-studied groups, we risk missing the full situation.”