Problematic Social Media Use and Depressive and Anxiety Symptoms in Adolescents

Given limited longitudinal data on social media use and mental health, this study examined within-person lagged associations between problematic social media use and depressive and anxiety symptoms across 5 annual assessments among adolescents.

This prospective cohort study used data from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study, years 2 to 6. The analytic sample included 11 279 participants (aged 12.01 ± 0.66 at year 2; 47.6% female) with at least 1 measure of problematic social media use and depressive or anxiety symptoms across years 2 to 6.

Across 5 years, random-intercept cross-lagged panel models (RI-CLPMs) indicated positive bidirectional lagged associations between problematic social media use and depressive symptoms from year 3 to year 4 and from year 4 to year 5. No significant cross-lagged associations were observed from year 2 to year 3 or from year 5 to year 6. For anxiety symptoms, no significant cross-lagged associations were observed across years. In multigroup RI-CLPMs, sex differences were observed in both models, but stronger cross-lagged associations among female than male participants were specific to depressive symptoms.

Problematic social media use and depressive symptoms showed year-specific bidirectional lagged associations, whereas within-person prospective associations between problematic social media use and anxiety symptoms were not observed. Sex differences were more apparent for depressive symptoms, for which lagged associations were stronger and more consistently bidirectional among female participants. Clinical and policy efforts should prioritize problematic features of social media use and consider developmental timing and sex-specific risk profiles in screening and intervention.