Increased social media usage during pandemic

A recent study from Applied Psychology: Health and Well-Being indicated a significant correlation between higher social media consumption during the COVID-19 lockdown and higher levels of mental health complications amongst adolescents. 

Quarantine during the COVID-19 pandemic left adolescents susceptible to loneliness and boredom from lack of in-person-to-person contact. Therefore, many turned to social media to reconnect with other individuals.

“Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been an explosion in the use of social networks in everyday life,” said Alexandra Masciantonio, research assistant at the University of Lorraine. “It was therefore essential for us to understand if they had effects on individual well-being and if so, what could moderate these effects.” 

A study from JAMA Pediatrics showed that screen-time outside of remote learning amongst adolescents increased from 3.8 hours per day to 7.7 hours.

“Kids were essentially putting in a full workday of recreational screen time,” said Dr. Michael Rich, director of the Digital Wellness Lab at Boston Children’s Hospital and associate professor of pediatrics at Harvard Medical School.

The link between increased social media and a decline in mental health is cyclical. Poor mental health amongst adolescents contributes to more active use of social media, which then negatively affects mental health even more.

“What we’re seeing here is that the mental health issues preceded the screen use rather than the other way around,” Rich said. 

Rich said his work at the Digital Wellness Lab has suggested that the link between high screen times and declining mental health amongst adolescents is a bi-directional relationship.

Rates of adolescent depression saw the greatest spike during the mandated quarantine placed at the beginning of March 2020 – during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Young people were deprived of the in-person social connections they relied on for support and were thus more vulnerable to depressive emotions. In this vulnerable state, teenagers turned to social media, only to find artificial social interactions that further contributed to their loneliness.

“The less you are connected with human beings in a deep, empathic way, the less you’re really getting the benefits of a social interaction,” said Dr. Alexandra Hamlet, a clinical psychologist in the Mood Disorders Center at the Child Mind Institute. “The more superficial it is, the less likely it’s going to cause you to feel connected, which is something we all need.”

Furthermore, Generalized Anxiety Disorder also spiked amongst adolescents who spent more time on social media during the pandemic. Social media exposed adolescents to a plethora of unverified information, which may have contributed to adolescents’ anxiety about their personal safety and wellness.

“While we are all impacted in differing ways by social media consumption, the continual flow of negative and misinformation during the past 18 months have spread fear,” said Lee Chambers, an environmental psychologist at Essentialise. 

Shortly after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, eating disorders also spiked amongst adolescents. Excessive time spent on social media increases exposure to photos of a perceived ideal body type for adolescents to compare themselves to, which can lead to lower self-esteem and poor body image.

“Alongside the increased desire for metrics such as likes and comments in these challenging times, it’s likely that social media has exacerbated mental health challenges,” Chambers said.

Excessive amounts of time spent on social media can also affect sleep, which is crucial to maintaining stable mental health. Sufficient sleep, specifically REM sleep, controls how the brain processes emotions. 

A lack of good quality sleep can increase negative emotions and moods, meaning that it is closely linked to many mental health disorders, like depression and anxiety.

“Screen time is not inherently toxic,” Rich said. “But it can become so if it starts to undercut academic performance, sleep and relationships.”