Social media use and mental health

Abstract

Psychology![Figure][1] Adolescents using social media on their smartphones PHOTO: ISTOCK.COM/MONKEYBUSINESSIMAGES There has been public concern that increasing social media use among adolescents may cause reduced well-being. Orben et al. analyzed social media use among more than 12,000 teenagers in the United Kingdom over the course of 8 years to determine whether increased social media use predicted reduced life satisfaction over time. They found virtually no effect of social media use on life satisfaction either between individuals or in the same individual across time. These results suggest that concern over the use of social media and its relationship to mental health may be unwarranted. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 116 , 10226 (2019). [1]: pending:yes