Limiting Social Media Use Decreases Depression, Anxiety, and Fear of Missing Out in Youth With Emotional Distress: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Abstract

Reports demonstrating modest but significant correlations between heavy social media use (SMU) and poorer mental health in youth have led many to suggest that heavySMUis culpable.Although many youthmay not be harmed by heavy SMU, distressed youth may be particularly vulnerable. The aim of this study was to experimentally examine the effects of reducing SMU on smartphones on symptoms of depression, anxiety, fear of missing out (FoMO), and sleep in youth with emotional distress. A randomized controlled trial was used to assign 220 youth aged 17–25 years to either an intervention or control group. The intervention group was asked to reduce smartphone-based SMU to 1 hr/day for 3 weeks while the control group had no SMU restrictions. SMU was objectivelymeasured daily via tracking systems in smartphones. Mental health and sleep were subjectively assessed at baseline and following the 3-week intervention period. Compared to the control group, the intervention group showed significantly greater reductions in symptoms of depression, anxiety, and FoMO, and greater increases in sleep. No effects of gender were detected. Reducing SMU on smartphones to approximately 1 hr/day may be a feasible, inexpensive, and effective method of increasing sleep and reducing symptoms of depression, anxiety, and FoMO among distressed youth.