'Staggering': Cutting teens' social media use can reduce depression, study finds

Restricting social media use among young teenagers can reduce the number who go on to develop depression, according to a new study described as “staggering” by the top paediatrician who led it. 

The long-term Australian survey of children and adolescents found those who accessed social media for more than two hours a day were at greatest risk of suffering mental health problems later on. 

The finding was strongest among 12- and 13-year-old girls, who risked high depressive symptoms from social media overuse. 

Dr Susan Sawyer, chairwoman of Adolescent Health at the University of Melbourne and Murdoch Children’s Research Institute and a member of the Australian eSafety Commission’s Academic Advisory Group, led the study. 

She described the results as staggering, saying the research suggested that about 11 out of every 100 12- to 13 year-old girls could be saved from depression by restricting their social media use. 

The paper, The Effects of Social Media on Adolescent Mental Health: Findings from a population-based cohort study in Australia, was published in June in the Medical Journal of Australia. 

Beginning in 2012, the study followed almost 1200 children for 10 years, from the age of about 9. 

Results showed that more than two hours of social media use per day was linked to a small increase in risk for high depressive symptoms and poor wellbeing among adolescents across all age levels, but the link grew stronger in young teens, especially girls. 

The Australian study followed a group of more than 1000 young people over a decade. Photo / 123RF 

It also found 74% of young people in the survey reached the clinical threshold for anxiety or depression. One-third of the group reported self-harm during adolescence. 

“Increased risk for all mental health problems was strongest in early adolescence, suggesting this period may be an important period for targeting policies to mitigate the harmful effects of [social media use].” 

Speaking to the Herald’s Under the Influence series, which investigated the impact of social media on young people in New Zealand, Sawyer acknowledged her shock at the findings. 

“For me, as a very experienced paediatrician who has worked with young people for a very long time, this was staggering. 

“So girls of 12 to 13 years of age – we would be potentially be able to prevent 11 girls from having high symptoms of depression or poor wellbeing out of 100,” Sawyer said. 

“This really means we need to be much more invested in thinking about prevention.” 

‘The greatest risk’ 

It was when at their youngest that the group was most negatively affected by social media use, the study found. 

“We identified the greatest risk associated with social media use was in early adolescence (12 to 13 years old) for both female and male adolescents.” 

For every 100 adolescents who used social media for more than two hours per day, an additional 11 girls were identified as having high depressive symptoms and poor wellbeing. 

For boys in that age group, an additional seven suffered from high depressive symptoms and high anxiety symptoms. 

Both findings were in comparison to children who spent less than an hour per day online. 

“In some instances, high levels of use were also associated with increased risk in middle and late adolescence. But the estimated effects were about half the size of those for early adolescence.” 

Social media is now a part of everyday life for many children and teens. Photo / Getty Images 

The study’s conclusion was that higher levels of social media use were associated with small increases in future risk of high depressive symptoms and poor wellbeing later in adolescence. 

“The largest risks for all mental health problems were observed during early adolescence for both male and female participants, supporting the need to consider policies that mitigate the adverse effects of social media on the mental health of younger adolescents.” 

‘Delete the apps’ 

Responding to the study findings, New Zealand expert Dr Samantha Marsh, a senior research fellow at the University of Auckland’s Department of General Practice and Primary Care, said: “It’s once again confirming what we already knew, which is high levels of social media use – even prior to the introduction of TikTok – harms the mental health of young people.” 

Marsh, who also appeared in the Under The Influence series, agreed with Sawyer that the data showed less social media use could reduce depression among teenagers, but warned the numbers did not show an exact decrease. 

“It doesn’t mean that restricting access would prevent 11 cases per 100. It means we’d expect fewer teens to be affected across the population if we could reduce that heavy usage. 

“Importantly, what it also tells us is that this is a … modifiable risk factor. There are lots of factors for mental health problems. This is a potential one that we could something about.” 

She added that the data was now old and did not include recent highly addictive apps such as TikTok, so the true scale of the problem could be worse. 

“It’s not really measuring modern social media use as we know it. 

“I hope we’re at that stage where we’re moving past just describing the problem and moving into: ‘Well, what are we going to do with the problem?’” 

Marsh said there remained little comparable research in New Zealand, but the country had still started to shift in some attitudes and actions – particularly among a new generation of parents. 

“One thing that I have noticed really strongly coming through is young people in their 20s, who have gone through it ... they’re saying that ‘it took our childhood and we’re not going to do the same thing to our own children’. 

“So I’m hoping the new generation of parents ... are going to say no to this stuff for their kids.” 

Asked how parents could actively help their children spend less time on social media, she recommended a back-to-basics approach, including promoting physical play and time outside, having tech-free zones in the home and deleting social media apps entirely. 

For more on this topic, watch Under the Influence, the Herald’s new online video series about the harm social media can do to young people and how we can respond