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This one-year longitudinal study of 259 Finnish teenage girls (mean age 16.3) found that social media addiction at baseline was associated with increased anxiety, lower body appreciation, and greater loneliness at follow-up. Heavy users of TikTok showed lower body appreciation and more social media addiction, while heavy Snapchat users reported more addiction and tiredness. Notably, baseline anxiety also predicted later social media addiction, suggesting a bidirectional relationship between mental health and problematic social media use.
Why it matters
The study provides longitudinal evidence linking objectively measured social media use to mental health outcomes in adolescent girls, moving beyond self-reported cross-sectional data. The findings suggest that certain platforms may have differential impacts and that interventions targeting social media addiction in teenagers could benefit mental health outcomes.
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⚠️ Preprint – Noch nicht peer-reviewed
Dieser Artikel wurde noch nicht von unabhängigen Experten begutachtet. Die Ergebnisse sind vorläufig und sollten mit Vorsicht interpretiert werden.
Objective: Cross-sectional studies indicate associations between self-reported social media use and adolescent wellbeing outcomes. We aimed to evaluate longitudinal associations of objectively measured smartphone and social media use with psychosocial wellbeing. Design: Observational study with one year of follow-up Setting: High schools in Finland from 2022 to 2023 Population: 259 adolescent girls (mean age 16.3 years at baseline) Main outcome measures: screenshots depicting smartphone and social media use, Bergen Social Media Addiction Scale (BSMAS), Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 questionnaire, Body Appreciation Scale 2 (BAS-2) and visual analogue scales (VAS) of mood, tiredness, and loneliness Results: Across one year of follow-up, anxiety, body appreciation, and mood improved, but possible social media addiction increased from 15% to 17%. Social media addiction at baseline was associated with increased anxiety (r=0.29, p<0.001), lower body appreciation (r=-0.15, p=0.022), and more loneliness (r=0.20, p=0.001) at follow-up. Anxiety at baseline was associated with social media addiction at follow-up (r=0.19, p=0.005). The highest quartile of TikTok users reported more social media addiction (BSMAS 19 [IQR 16-21] vs. 17 [IQR 14-20]; p=0.009) and lower body appreciation (BAS-2 32 [IQR 28-38] vs. 35 [IQR 29-40]; p=0.003) than did others. The highest quartile of Snapchat users reported more social media addiction (BSMAS 19 [IQR 15-21] vs. 17 [IQR 14-20]; p=0.007) and tiredness (VAS 21 [IQR 13-32] vs. 26 [IQR 15-35]; p=0.049) than did others. Conclusions: Consistent with cross-sectional studies, social media addiction was associated with poorer psychosocial outcomes across follow-up. Policies to protect adolescents from social media addiction are urgently needed.
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