Problematic Social Media Use and Its Relationship with Depression or Anxiety: A Systematic Review
Lopes LS, Valentini JP, Monteiro TH, Costacurta MCF, Soares LON, Telfar-Barnard L, Nunes PV
Cyberpsychology, behavior and social networking · 111 citations
Review labels
Neutral facts our review recorded about how this study was done. They describe method, never whether we like the result.
How it was studied
- Design
- Systematic review (indexed by PubMed)
- Studied in
- People
- Main outcome
- Health markers and function
Who paid for it
- Funding
- Funding not disclosed
Publication
- Published
- 2022-10-11 · Cyberpsychol Behav Soc Netw · vol. 25 · issue 11 · pp. 691–702
- Publisher
- Mary Ann Liebert, Inc.
- Cited
- 194 citations · more than 98% of similar papers · 7.1× the field average
- Impact
- Top 10% most cited in its field
- References
- 166 works
- Access
- Paywalled
- Research areas
- Impact of Technology on Adolescents · Digital Mental Health Interventions · Child Development and Digital Technology
- Keywords
- social media addiction, depression, anxiety, time spent on social media, bidirectional relationship, gender differences, emotional engagement, active vs passive social media use, mental health
- MeSH
- humans, depression, anxiety, female, male, pandemics, social media, covid-19
7 authors
From BR, NZ
- Lucas Silva Lopes · correspondingFaculdade de Medicina de Jundiaí
- João Pedro ValentiniFaculdade de Medicina de Jundiaí
- Thomas Hagemann MonteiroFaculdade de Medicina de Jundiaí
- Marcelo Cunha de Freitas CostacurtaFaculdade de Medicina de Jundiaí
- Luiza Oliveira Nicastro SoaresFaculdade de Medicina de Jundiaí
- Lucy Telfar-BarnardUniversity of Otago
Abstract
There has been a notable increase in social media and Internet use over recent decades, not only for social interaction or entertainment, but also for working and meeting tools, as seen during the COVID-19 pandemic. A relationship between this usage and the development of mental illness is frequently hypothesized, but a few studies have empirical findings. This study is a systematic review of the relationship between social media use and depression or anxiety. Our Medline search yielded 1,747 papers. Our study found a strong and often bidirectional relationship between social media use and depression or anxiety. This relationship was frequently related to problematic social media use. No definite linear relationship was found between time spent using social media and depressive or anxious symptoms, but usually, the longer the time spent in that activity, the worse the outcomes. Factors related to problematic social media use were often different for men and women. Other variables may also play a role, such as nighttime-specific use, emotional involvement, and whether the individual behaves as an active or passive user. Evidence from this review provides a solid base for recommending cautious use of social media. Intense use and unhealthy habits, evidenced by addiction symptoms, may be problematic in less resilient individuals.
Abstract via Europe PMC. Copyright remains with the authors or publisher.
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