The Role of Social Media Use and Associated Risk and Protective Behaviors on Depression in Youth Adults: A Longitudinal and Network Perspective

Abstract

Social media use has been associated with depression in youth. It remains unclear how individual differences in social media use and depression relate to other health-related behaviors such as physical activity, green space exposure, cannabis use, and eveningness. We aimed to examine these associations and network structure with the Green/Screen Study, a Canadian cohort of 425 adults (82.5% female) aged 18–25 years who completed three online questionnaires between May 2021 and January 2022. Longitudinal analyses showed sex differences in the association of social media use with depression. Although social media use was positively associated with depression after adjusting for other health-related behaviors, it did not predict an increase in depressive symptoms over time. Shorter time intervals and more detailed measures of social media use may be needed to capture social media context- and usage-specific associations with depression.