Time Out: A Scoping Review of Non-Duration Based Social Media Use Measures and Adolescent Mental Health

Research to understand the role of social media use (SMU) in explaining deteriorating adolescent mental health has been limited by broad, nonspecific measures of social media use, specifically 'time spent on social media'. These measures provide insufficient detail to capture specific risk and protective factors to users.

We conducted a scoping review of observational and experimental studies of the relationship between non-duration-based SMU measures and mental health outcomes in adolescents ≤ 18 years old. Studies that measured SMU solely based on time spent on a platform were excluded.

The initial search returned 868 articles. After inclusion and exclusion, we identified 217 studies, but among them 133 (61%) used duration-based SMU measures and were excluded. Of the 84 remaining studies, most focused on depression (48%), or anxiety (23%), though nine total mental health domains were included. Studies used 85 distinct measures of SMU, and fewer than half (n = 37; 45%) provided evidence of validity. SMU measures were grouped into five domains, including SMU habits, addiction-like measures, structural aspects, interactions on SM, and feelings about SM. Social comparison and addiction-related measures were consistently linked with poor mental health. SMU for socialization was consistently associated with decreased loneliness. Evidence of protective associations were otherwise limited.

These findings contribute to a more complete understanding of specific types of SMU that contribute to adolescent mental health. This specificity may help to identify modifiable targets for use in prevention programs and policy development for social media regulation.