In June 2019 researchers from Estonia published the results of their study to assess the association between social media addiction and depressive symptoms in adolescent girls. A total of 397 adolescent girls were included in the study. Social media use and symptoms of depression were assessed three times, starting at the beginning of the study and spaced 2 years apart. Results showed that social media overuse was associated with risk of depressive symptoms. The higher the overuse of social media, the higher the risk of depressive symptoms. It was also noted that changes in social media use were linked to changes in depressive symptoms. The researchers concluded by suggesting that interventions to prevent mental health problems in adolescents should include a reduction of social media use.
Raudsepp L, Kais K. Longitudinal associations between problematic social media use and depressive symptoms in adolescent girls. Prev Med Rep. 2019 Jun 21;15:100925