The effects of social media on adolescent mental health

This study used longitudinal data to examine the effects of adolescents’ social media use on their mental health. The findings suggest that over two hours of social media use a day was associated with a slight increase in depressive symptoms and poorer wellbeing a year later compared to adolescents who spent less than one hour a day on social media. This finding was strongest for younger adolescents (aged 12 to 13 years).

Why is this important?

• Many young people use social media and report positive experiences. However, there are also concerns about potential harms, such as the impacts of negative online interactions and sleep displacement on adolescent mental health and wellbeing.
• Such concerns have driven policy and debate about stricter regulations and age restrictions, but evidence about the relationship between social media use and adolescent mental health and wellbeing remains limited and largely cross-sectional.

What did they do?

• The study examined the effects of social media on future mental health problems in adolescents aged 12 to 18 years, using data from a longitudinal study that began in 2012 (wave 1) with Grade 3 students (n=1239) from 43 Melbourne schools.
  • Each year the students complete a survey that includes questions about their social media use and mental health.
• Data on self-reported duration of social media use from waves 4 to 10 (ages 12 to 18 years) was compared with data on self-reported mental health symptoms (depressive and anxiety symptoms, wellbeing and self-harm) from waves 5 to 11 (ages 13 to 19 years).

What did they find?

• Using social media for more than two hours a day was associated with a small increase in adolescents experiencing high depressive symptoms and poor wellbeing a year later, compared to adolescents who used social media for less than one hour a day.
• The association between more than two hours of social media use and increased risk for all mental health challenges (depressive symptoms, anxiety symptoms, poor wellbeing and self-harm) was strongest in early adolescence (ages 12 to 13 years).
• The risk of experiencing poor wellbeing was greatest for female adolescents who used social media for more than two hours a day.

What does this mean for practice?

• Findings from this study suggest that early adolescence is a key period of vulnerability when social media use may increase the risk of experiencing poor mental health and wellbeing in following years. This highlights the benefit of targeted education and policies aimed at limiting or reducing social media use for early adolescents in particular.
• Strategies that may be useful in reducing social media-related risks of poor mental health and wellbeing include school-based media literacy and wellbeing programs, parental guidance and platform-level safeguards.

This summary is one of the child mental health research highlights for June 2026, prepared by the Australian Institute of Family Studies (AIFS).