Summary: A new longitudinal study from the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) indicates that rising social media use among preteens is associated with an increase in depressive symptoms, and that the opposite — depression leading to more social media time — was not observed. The research tracked nearly 12,000 children over three years and found that higher than usual social media use predicted greater depressive symptoms in subsequent years.
Over the study period, average daily time spent on social media among participants climbed sharply, while reported depressive symptoms increased substantially. The evidence suggests social media exposure may contribute to the development of depression in early adolescence, especially when use involves risks like cyberbullying and disrupted sleep.
Key Facts:
- Direction of risk: Increases in social media use predicted later depressive symptoms; depressive symptoms did not predict later increases in social media use.
- Rising exposure and symptoms: Average daily social media time rose from about 7 minutes to roughly 73 minutes; depressive symptoms increased by approximately 35% across the cohort.
- Cyberbullying and risk behavior: Separate analyses of the same cohort found that children who experienced cyberbullying were substantially more likely to report suicidal ideation and to try substances in the following year.
Source: UCSF
As rates of depression and suicide among young people continue to draw attention, clinicians, parents, and policymakers are asking whether social media causes mental health problems in kids or simply reflects pre-existing issues. This UCSF study advances that conversation by using repeated measures from the same children over time to separate within-child changes from between-child differences.
Led by Jason Nagata, MD, MSc, associate professor in UCSF’s Department of Pediatrics, the research team analyzed data from nearly 11,876 children who were 9 to 10 years old at baseline and reassessed three times over the following three years when participants were about 12 to 13 years old. The analysis used within-person, longitudinal methods to determine whether deviations above a child’s typical social media use predicted later changes in depressive symptoms.
After adjusting for demographic and family-level factors, the researchers found that when a child’s social media use rose above their own average during year 1 and year 2, that increase was associated with higher depressive symptoms the following year. By contrast, higher depressive symptoms at one time point did not predict more social media use later. The findings were robust across multiple model fit metrics reported by the authors.
Although the study does not pinpoint a single cause, prior work suggests plausible mechanisms linking social media to worsening mental health, including exposure to cyberbullying, comparisons with peers, and sleep disruption from late-night screen use. The UCSF group recently published a related study examining cyberbullying in the same cohort: children aged 11 to 12 who reported being cyberbullied were more than 2.6 times as likely to report suicidal ideation or an attempted suicide one year later, and they showed significantly higher odds of experimenting with substances, including marijuana and nicotine.
These results highlight a difficult reality for today’s youngest adolescents: social media can be a central venue for social connection while also exposing them to harms linked with depressive symptoms and risky behavior. Clinicians and caregivers therefore face the challenge of balancing connectedness with safety.
To help families navigate this balance, the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends practical tools such as the Family Media Plan to promote healthier digital habits. Nagata emphasized the value of constructive parental engagement, noting: “As a father of two young kids, I know that simply telling children to ‘get off your phone’ doesn’t really work.” He recommended leading by example, having open, nonjudgmental conversations about screen use, and establishing screen-free times for the whole family—during meals and before bed—to support better habits for both children and adults.
Authors: UCSF authors include Jason M. Nagata, M.D., Christopher D. Otmar, Ph.D., Joan Shim, M.P.H., Priyadharshini Balasubramanian, M.P.H., Chloe M. Cheng, M.D., Elizabeth J. Li, M.P.H., Abubakr A.A. Al-Shoaibi, Ph.D., and Iris Y. Shao, Ph.D. (Full author list available in the published paper.)
Funding: The study was supported by the National Institutes of Health (grants K08HL159350 and R01MH135492) and the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation (grant 2022056).
Disclosures: Fiona C. Baker, PhD, reported receiving grants from the National Institutes of Health during the conduct of the study. No other disclosures were reported.
About this depression and social media research news
Author: Jared Marsh
Source: UCSF
Contact: Jared Marsh – UCSF
Image: Image credited to Neuroscience News
Original Research (open access): “Social Media Use and Depressive Symptoms During Early Adolescence” by Jason M. Nagata et al., published in JAMA Network Open. This paper reports the longitudinal analysis of social media time and depressive symptoms across four assessment waves spanning a three-year follow-up.
Abstract
Social Media Use and Depressive Symptoms During Early Adolescence
Importance In 2023, the US Surgeon General issued an advisory on social media and youth mental health that highlighted key research gaps, including a need for longitudinal studies focused on younger adolescents rather than cross-sectional research or studies limited to older teens and young adults.
Objective To assess longitudinal associations between time spent on social media and depressive symptoms across four annual waves covering late childhood into early adolescence.
Design, Setting, and Participants This prospective cohort analysis used data from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study collected across 21 sites from October 2016 to October 2018. Children were 9 to 10 years old at baseline and were assessed at baseline and at years 1, 2, and 3, with follow-up through 2022. Sample size varied by wave because of attrition and missing data; analyses retained all available data at each wave.
Exposures Self-reported time spent on social media from baseline through the 3-year follow-up.
Main Outcomes and Measures Reciprocal, longitudinal associations between social media use and depressive symptoms (measured by the Child Behavior Checklist) were examined using random-intercept cross-lagged panel models that adjusted for sex, race and ethnicity, household income, and parental education.
Results The baseline sample included 11,876 participants (mean age 9.9 years; 52.2% male). After accounting for stable differences between participants and covariates, within-person increases in social media use above a child’s usual level were associated with elevated depressive symptoms from year 1 to year 2 (β = 0.07) and from year 2 to year 3 (β = 0.09), while depressive symptoms did not predict later social media use at any interval. Between-person differences in social media use were not associated with depressive symptoms after adjusting for demographic and family factors.
Conclusions and Relevance In this cohort of 11,876 children and early adolescents, periods when individuals reported more social media use than their own average predicted increases in depressive symptoms in the following year. These findings support anticipatory guidance from clinicians to families about social media use during early adolescence.