High Social Media Use Linked to Youth Anxiety and Suicidal Ideation, New Longitudinal Study Finds
核心洞察
Teenagers spending six or more hours daily on social media are twice as likely to exhibit anxiety (搜索) symptoms and three times as likely to report suicidal ideation (搜索) compared to those using platforms under one hour daily.
The study tracked 1,066 individuals from age 12 through annual surveys from 2018 to 2025, capturing the rise of modern platforms like TikTok.
Female participants reported higher total social media usage, and the association between high usage and anxiety (搜索) symptoms was significantly stronger among girls.
Teenagers who spent six or more hours a day on social media were twice as likely to experience symptoms of anxiety (搜索) and three times as likely to report suicidal ideation (搜索) than those who spent less than an hour on social media each day, according to researchers at UTHealth Houston. The findings, published in Pediatrics Open Science, provide some of the most contemporary evidence linking heavy social media use to deteriorating mental health in emerging adults.
The study, led by Jeff Temple, PhD, professor and associate dean for clinical research at UTHealth Houston School of Behavioral Health Sciences, tracked a cohort of 1,066 individuals from an average age of 12 through annual surveys conducted between 2018 and 2025. Unlike previous research that focused heavily on high school or college students and predated platforms like TikTok, this longitudinal investigation captures the modern short-form video era and its impact on a racially and socioeconomically diverse sample.
Dose-Dependent Mental Health Risks
The data reveal a clear dose-response relationship. Of the participants, 8.5% reported using social media less than one hour per day, while more than one-third reported between one and three hours of daily use, and slightly more than 17% reported six or more hours each day. Relative to emerging adults with less than one hour of daily use, those with over six hours had significantly higher odds of anxiety (搜索) (OR = 2.63, P < 0.01) and suicidal ideation (搜索) (OR = 3.23, P = 0.013).
Depressive symptoms also rose in tandem with usage. Those reporting over six hours of daily use had higher depressive symptom scores (Beta = 1.73, P = 0.017) and anxiety (搜索) symptom scores (Beta = 2.28, P = 0.001) compared to those with less than one hour per day. Psychological distress was evaluated using validated instruments including the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression (搜索) (CES-D) scale and the Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) scale, with cut points of at least 10 and at least 8 indicating probable depression and anxiety, respectively.
Gender Disparities Emerge
Social media use differed significantly by sex (P < 0.001), with girls increasingly represented at higher levels of use. The association between symptoms of anxiety (搜索) and social media use was more pronounced among girls, and a significant interaction was observed for anxiety symptoms at the highest level of social media use — over six hours per day — suggesting a stronger association among girls.
“When teens are using social media, they’re comparing themselves to others. People only post the good on social media, typically, so they only see this happy life where everything’s perfect, and so we compare ourselves to others,” said Temple, who holds the Betty and Rose Pfefferbaum Chair in Child Mass Trauma and Resilience at McGovern Medical School at UTHealth Houston.
Dual Mechanisms and Reverse Causality
Temple and colleagues point to two potential mechanisms driving these associations. First, social comparison — the curated, idealized content on platforms fuels upward comparisons that erode self-esteem. Second, displacement — time spent scrolling replaces real-world prosocial activities that promote well-being and reduce anxiety (搜索).
However, the researchers also acknowledge the possibility of reverse causality. “It could also be that because they’re spending so much time on social media, they’re not spending time in the real world getting typical prosocial stuff that makes us happy and makes us less anxious,” Temple said. Young adults already experiencing symptoms of anxiety (搜索) and depression (搜索) may use social media more as a form of escape, creating a reinforcing cycle that is difficult to break.
Clinical and Public Health Implications
The study sample was 51.7% female, 46.3% Hispanic, and racially diverse (28.7% Black, 30.3% white, 16.0% Asian, 19.0% other, 5.9% multiracial). To enhance accuracy, participants were instructed to consult their phone-reported screen time data before responding to survey questions.
Temple emphasized that the findings confirm what children and families report anecdotally. “It’s easy to blame what’s in our face, quite literally — phones. Without studies, it’s just opinion,” he said. “Once we understand the problem and recognize the problem, then we can start answering the who, what, when, where, why, and how, and determine what we need to do to either make folks look at their smartphones and social media less, or make social media higher quality and less likely to contribute to poor mental health.”
The study was approved by the authors' institutional review board, and analyses controlled for sex, race, ethnicity, perceived income, and intraclass correlation. Race and ethnicity were included as covariates to account for structural and social inequities associated with both social media use and mental health outcomes.