Social media use and its impact on adolescent mental health: An umbrella review of the evidence

Valkenburg, Patti M.; Meier, Adrian; Beyens, Ine

doi:10.1016/j.copsyc.2021.08.017

Cited by 298 publications

(210 citation statements)

References 54 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

194

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…Thus, future research should combine the person-specific approach with more specific measures of SMU and, through donation-or log-based methods, data on the content of interactions to provide further insight into the complexities inherent to SMU and well-being. Using a personspecific approach to understand how well-being is affected by the subjective experiences of SMU, the contexts and ecologies in which usage is situated, as well as the usage of specific social media elements can contribute to resolving tensions between optimistic and pessimistic interpretations of the effects of SMU [44].…”

Section: Embracing An Idiographic Media Effects Paradigmmentioning

confidence: 99%

Social Media and Well-being: A Methodological Perspective

Parry¹,

Fisher²,

Mieczkowski³

et al. 2021

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Due to the methodological challenges inherent in studying social media use (SMU), as well as the methodological choices that have shaped research into the effects of SMU on well- being, clear conclusions regarding relationships between SMU and well-being remain elusive. We provide a review of five methodological developments poised to provide increased understanding in this domain: (1) the use of longitudinal and experimental designs; (2) the adoption of behavioural (rather than self-report) measures of SMU; (3) a shift away from aggregate use; (4) the emergence of an idiographic media effects paradigm; and (5) the use of formal modelling and machine learning. We focus on how these advances stand to bring us closer to understanding relations between SMU and well-being.

show abstract

Section: Embracing An Idiographic Media Effects Paradigmmentioning

confidence: 99%

Social Media and Well-being: A Methodological Perspective

Parry¹,

Fisher²,

Mieczkowski³

et al. 2021

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The effects of social media use on mental health reported in these studies have been small and inconsistent (Appel et al, 2020;Coyne et al, 2020;Dienlin & Johannes, 2020;Odgers & Jensen, 2020;Orben, 2020). These mixed findings may be due to the heterogeneous nature of social media effects (Beyens et al, 2020), but may also point to a more general lack of explanatory power of self-reported time-based predictors of mental health (Odgers & Jensen, 2020;Valkenburg et al, 2022). Time-based measures of social media use do not provide insight in what people see or do on social media.…”

Section: Promises and Pitfalls Of Instagram Data Donationsmentioning

confidence: 91%

Promises and Pitfalls of Social Media Data Donations

Driel¹,

Giachanou²,

Pouwels³

et al. 2021

Preprint

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Studies into the association of social media use with mental health are largely based on measures of time spent on social media. The small and inconsistent results in these studies may be due to a lack of explanatory power of time-based measures. Data Download Packages (DDPs), the archives of social media platforms that each user is allowed to download, provide a new and promising method to collect content-based information about social media use. In this study, we discuss the promises and pitfalls of DDPs based on an exploratory analysis of 110 Instagram DDPs gathered from 102 adolescents. DDPs provide tremendous opportunities to get insight in the frequency, range, and content of social media activities, from browsing to searching and posting. Yet, the method is also complex and laborious and demands numerous procedural and analytical choices and decisions. Moreover, due to several factors unique to social media interactions, automated content analysis may be challenging. We successively discuss the challenges and opportunities of collecting and analyzing DDPs to help future researchers in their consideration of whether and how to use DDPs.

show abstract

“…In addition to the person-specific studies [20, 33,34], several new publications have investigated the effects of SMU on social comparison, envy, and well-being using longitudinal methods, such as panel surveys or ESM. Earlier studies [4,6,7] found negative longitudinal associations of (passive) SMU with well-being, and that upward comparison was associated negatively with well-being and positively with envy [see also 35,36,40].…”

Section: Longitudinal Evidencementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Social media (SM) such as Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok continue to attract billions worldwide while concerns about their impact on users' well-being are unabated [1]. Recent reviews [2,3,4] synthesized meta-analyses on this issue, finding overall small negative associations between social media use (SMU) and some, but not all, well-being indicators among adolescents [4] and young adults [2,3]. Yet, associations are heterogeneous and likely depend on numerous boundary conditions and mechanisms [3,4].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Recent reviews [2,3,4] synthesized meta-analyses on this issue, finding overall small negative associations between social media use (SMU) and some, but not all, well-being indicators among adolescents [4] and young adults [2,3]. Yet, associations are heterogeneous and likely depend on numerous boundary conditions and mechanisms [3,4]. Several reviews [5,6,7], plus Facebook's own research [8,9], point to social comparison and envy as key mechanisms.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Social comparison and envy on social media: A critical review

Meier¹,

Johnson²

2021

Preprint

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Popular concern and much research assumes that (passive) social media use decreases well-being by providing a fertile ground for harmful (upward) social comparison and envy. The present review critically summarizes empirical evidence on this assumption. We first comprehensively synthesize existing studies, with a focus on the most recent publications (2019 to 2021). Results show that earlier research finds social comparison and envy to be common on social media and linked to lower well-being. Yet, increasingly, newer studies contradict this conclusion, finding positive links to well-being as well as heterogeneous, person-specific, conditional, and reverse or reciprocal effects. The review further identifies four critical conceptual and methodological limitations of existing studies, which offer new impulses for future research.

show abstract

Social media use and its impact on adolescent mental health: An umbrella review of the evidence

Cited by 298 publications

References 54 publications

Social Media and Well-being: A Methodological Perspective

Social Media and Well-being: A Methodological Perspective

Promises and Pitfalls of Social Media Data Donations

Social comparison and envy on social media: A critical review

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About