Teens With Mental Health Conditions Use Social Media Differently Than Their Peers

The following is excerpted from an online article posted by ScienceDaily.

Young people with a diagnosable mental health condition report differences in their experiences of social media compared to those without a condition, including greater dissatisfaction with online friend counts and more time spent on social media sites.

This is according to a new study led by the University of Cambridge, which suggests that adolescents with “internalising” conditions such as anxiety and depression report feeling particularly affected by social media.

Young people with these conditions are more likely to report comparing themselves to others on social media, feeling a lack of self-control over time spent on the platforms, as well as changes in mood due to the likes and comments received.

Researchers found that adolescents with any mental health condition report spending more time on social media than those without a mental health condition, amounting to an average of roughly 50 minutes extra on a typical day.

The study, led by Cambridge’s Medical Research Council Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit (MRC CBU), analyzed data from a survey of 3,340 adolescents in the UK aged between 11 and 19 years old, conducted by NHS Digital in 2017.

The majority of differences in social media use were reported by young people with internalizing conditions. For example, “social comparison” — comparing themselves to others online — was twice as high in adolescents with internalising conditions (48%, around one in two) than for those without a mental health condition (24%, around one in four).

Adolescents with internalizing conditions were also more likely to report mood changes in response to social media feedback (28%, around 1 in 4) compared to those without a mental health condition (13%, around 1 in 8). They also reported lower levels of self-control over time spent on social media and a reduced willingness to be honest about their emotional state when online.

Source: ScienceDaily
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2025/05/250505121412.htm