Scientists find that the impact of social media on wellbeing varies
across adolescence
Date:
March 28, 2022
Source:
University of Cambridge
Summary:
Girls and boys might be more vulnerable to the negative effects
of social media use at different times during their adolescence,
say an international team of scientists. The researchers show that,
in UK data, girls experience a negative link between social media
use and life satisfaction when they are 11-13 years old and boys
when they are 14-15 years old. Increased social media use again
predicts lower life satisfaction at age 19 years. At other times
the link was not statistically significant.
FULL STORY ========================================================================== Girls and boys might be more vulnerable to the negative effects of
social media use at different times during their adolescence, say an international team of scientists.
==========================================================================
In a study published today in Nature Communications, the researchers
show that, in UK data, girls experience a negative link between social
media use and life satisfaction when they are 11-13 years old and boys
when they are 14-15 years old. Increased social media use again predicts
lower life satisfaction at age 19 years. At other times the link was
not statistically significant.
In just over a decade, social media has fundamentally changed how we spend
our time, share information about ourselves, and talk to others. This
has led to widespread concern about its potential negative impact,
both on individuals and on the wider society. Yet, even after years of research, there is still considerable uncertainty about how social media
use relates to wellbeing.
A team of scientists including psychologists, neuroscientists and
modellers analysed two UK datasets comprising some 84,000 individuals
between the ages of 10 and 80 years old. These included longitudinal
data -- that is, data that tracks individuals over a period of time --
on 17,400 young people aged 10-21 years old. The researchers are from the University of Cambridge, University of Oxford, and the Donders Institute
for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour.
The team looked for a connection between estimated social media use and reported life satisfaction and found key periods of adolescence where
social media use was associated with a decrease in life satisfaction 12
months later.
In the opposite direction, the researchers also found that teens who have
lower than average life satisfaction use more social media one year later.
In girls, social media use between the ages of 11 and 13 years
was associated with a decrease in life satisfaction one year later,
whereas in boys this occurred between the ages of 14 and 15 years. The differences suggest that sensitivity to social media use might be linked
to developmental changes, possibly changes in the structure of the brain,
or to puberty, which occurs later in boys than in girls. This requires
further research.
==========================================================================
In both females and males, social media use at the age of 19 years was
again associated with a decrease in life satisfaction a year later. At
this age, say the researchers, it is possible that social changes --
such as leaving home or starting work -- may make us particularly
vulnerable. Again, this requires further research.
At other times, the link between social media use and life satisfaction
one year later was not statistically significant. Decreases in life satisfaction also predicted increases in social media use one year later; however this does not change across age and or differ between the sexes.
Dr Amy Orben a group leader at the MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, University of Cambridge, who led the study, said: "The link between
social media use and mental wellbeing is clearly very complex. Changes
within our bodies, such as brain development and puberty, and in our
social circumstances appear to make us vulnerable at particular times of
our lives." Professor Sarah-Jayne Blakemore, Professor of Psychology
and Cognitive Neuroscience at Cambridge and a co-author of the study,
said: "It's not possible to pinpoint the precise processes that underlie
this vulnerability.
Adolescence is a time of cognitive, biological and social change, all
of which are intertwined, making it difficult to disentangle one factor
from another.
For example, it is not yet clear what might be due to developmental
changes in hormones or the brain and what might be down to how an
individual interacts with their peers." Dr Orben added: "With our
findings, rather than debating whether or not the link exists, we can
now focus on the periods of our adolescence where we now know we might
be most at risk and use this as a springboard to explore some of the
really interesting questions." Further complicating the relationship
is the fact -- previously reported and confirmed by today's findings --
that not only can social media use negatively impact wellbeing, but that
the reverse is also true and lower life satisfaction can drive increased
social media use.
==========================================================================
The researchers are keen to point out that, while their findings show
at a population level that there is a link between social media use and
poorer wellbeing, it is not yet possible to predict which individuals
are most at risk.
Professor Rogier Kievit, Professor of Developmental Neuroscience at
the Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition, and Behaviour, said: "Our statistical modelling examines averages. This means not every young person
is going to experience a negative impact on their wellbeing from social
media use. For some, it will often have a positive impact. Some might
use social media to connect with friends, or cope with a certain problem
or because they don't have anyone to talk to about a particular problem
or how they feel -- for these individuals, social media can provide
valuable support." Professor Andrew Przybylski, Director of Research
at the Oxford Internet Institute at the University of Oxford said:
"To pinpoint which individuals might be influenced by social media,
more research is needed that combines objective behavioural data with biological and cognitive measurements of development. We therefore call
on social media companies and other online platforms to do more to share
their data with independent scientists, and, if they are unwilling,
for governments to show they are serious about tackling online harms
by introducing legislation to compel these companies to be more open."
The research was supported by Emmanuel College, the UK Economic and
Social Research Council, the Huo Family Foundation, Wellcome, the Jacobs Foundation, the Wellspring Foundation, the Radboud UMC and the Medical
Research Council.
========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by University_of_Cambridge. The original
text of this story is licensed under a Creative_Commons_License. Note:
Content may be edited for style and length.
========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Amy Orben, Andrew K. Przybylski, Sarah-Jayne Blakemore, Rogier
A. Kievit.
Windows of developmental sensitivity to social media. Nature
Communications, 2022; 13 (1) DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-29296-3 ==========================================================================
Link to news story:
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/03/220328090012.htm
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