Social media behaviors and symptoms of anxiety and depression. A four-wave cohort study from age 10–16 years

Concerns have been raised that social media use causes mental health problems in adolescents, but findings are mixed, and effects are typically small. The present inquiry is the first to measure diagnostically-defined symptoms of depression and anxiety, examining whether changes in social media behavior predict changes in levels of symptoms from age 10 to 16, and vice versa. We differentiate between activity related to one's own vs. others' social media content or pages (i.e., self-oriented: posting updates, photos vs other-oriented: liking, commenting). A birth-cohort of Norwegian children was interviewed about their social media at ages 10, 12, 14 and 16 years (n = 810). Symptoms of depression, social anxiety and generalized anxiety were captured by psychiatric interviews and data was analyzed using Random Intercept Cross-lagged Panel Modeling. Within-person changes in self- and other oriented social media behavior were unrelated to within-person changes in symptoms of depression or anxiety two years later, and vice versa. This null finding was evident across all timepoints and for both sexes. Conclusions: The frequency of posting, liking, and commenting is unrelated to future symptoms of depression and anxiety. This is true also when gold standard measures of depression and anxiety are applied. •Does social media use predict mental health problems in adolescents?•We measured social media use and symptoms of depression/anxiety through interviews.•Four waves of data from a Norwegian birth cohort were used (10, 12, 14, 16 years).•The frequency of posting, liking, and commenting was unrelated to future symptoms.•Symptoms of anxiety and depression also did not impact future social media use.