Associations between active and passive social media use and anxious affect among adolescents around the world

Previous research has provided conflicting answers about whether the active use of social media, rather than just passive use, is linked to poor mental health. In addition, few studies have examined associations between social media use and mental health in international samples. Among adolescents aged 15-16 from 47 countries around the world (N = 143,203), both active and passive social media use were associated with higher levels of anxious affect, though most associations with active use reversed or became non-significant when passive use was included in a multilevel model. Among girls across all regions, heavy passive social media users (7 + hours a day) were 88% more likely than light passive users (less than an hour a day) to strongly agree they got nervous easily; heavy active users were 64% more likely than light active users to strongly agree. Among boys, heavy passive social media users were 73% more likely than light passive users to strongly agree they worry about many things; heavy active users were 60% more likely than light active users to strongly agree. The associations appeared across all world regions, with effect sizes especially large in Central/Eastern Europe. Mean differences were larger among girls than boys, but relative risk elevations were larger among boys, likely due to lower base rates. Multilevel models identified significant interactions by gender. Thus, passive SMU (and sometimes active SMU) is associated with anxious affect, especially for girls.