Prolonged use of social media in childhood could be causing anxiety and depression in teenagers, according to a study.
Experts at Imperial College London said the impact was likely to be down to a lack of sleep caused by staying up late at night to use social media. Girls were worse affected by this than boys.
Researchers analysed data from a study set up in 2014 which examined cognition, adolescents and mobile phones, and was based on responses from 2,350 children attending 31 schools in London.
Pupils completed two cognition tests and a questionnaire on their digital behaviour, mental health and general lifestyles. The first test was taken when they were aged 11 to 12 years, and the second between the ages of 13 and 15.
Children who use social media apps for longer, and later into the evening, may be offsetting the sleep they need to function healthily
The findings, published in BMC Medicine, showed that children who spent more than three hours a day on social media were more likely to develop symptoms of anxiety and depression as teenagers, compared with those who spent 30 minutes online each day.
The researchers suggested this could be down to social media users going to sleep later and having less sleep overall, particularly on school nights.
Professor Mireille Toledano, principal investigator for the research and chair of Imperial’s Mohn Centre for Children’s Health and Wellbeing, said: “Our analysis shows a clear trend in terms of the amount of time spent on social media and mental health outcomes.
“Children who use social media apps for longer, and later into the evening, may be offsetting the sleep they need to function healthily. We think this is the key reason we’re seeing a lasting impact on their mental health down the line.”
Earlier this month, the government launched a consultation on possible measures to protect children online, which could include a social media ban for under-16s.
Australia is taking a lead in banning social media for under-16s and deactivated, removed or restricted the account of nearly five million young people in December.
Lack of evidence for outright ban
However, Toledano said, there was currently a lack of evidence to back up proposals for a similar ban in the UK, or a ban on mobile phones in schools, despite widespread support for such a move.
“The picture is complex and multi-factorial, and we need to better tease out what is driving the associations we see,” she said. “Despite calls for an outright ban for under-16s, the evidence that this will solve all the issues children are facing just isn’t there.
“Instead of the UK jumping on an arbitrary ban, it might be prudent to see what happens in Australia over the course of this year and the impacts of the ban on young people’s health and wellbeing.”
Researchers called for better education in secondary schools to raise awareness of digital literacy and sleep. They said more studies were needed, as the social media landscape has changed dramatically since the data was collected between 2014 and 2018.
Dr Chen Shen from Imperial’s school of public health, and one of the co-authors, said: “We know social media platforms have changed enormously over the last decade and are likely to change as much, if not more, in the next five to 10 years.
“As the platforms, usage and content evolve, we need continued research to understand how social media use affects children’s mental health in today’s digital environment.”
