Browse or broadcast? The influence of active and passive social media use on mood
Abstract
Associations between screen time and mental health may be driven by increased use in young people with heightened symptoms as a means of modifying negative mood. However, the direct effect of technology use on mood remains unclear. This study aimed to investigate the effect of active and passive social media use on an induced sad or neutral mood by randomising young people (16-24 years; N = 116) to a sad or neutral mood induction task and assessing mood after being instructed to engage in active or passive social media use. We found both active and passive social media use alleviated sad mood but had no effect on neutral mood. Active social media use was associated with functional emotion regulation strategies relative to passive social media use. These findings suggest a possible beneficial effect of social media use on sad mood, however, longer-term effects on mental health are yet to be determined.
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One study in Australia in which teens and young adults were randomly assigned to more active use did not change participants' negative mood more than those randomly assigned to passive use.
“One study in Australia in which teens and young adults were randomly assigned to more active use did not change participants’ negative mood more than those randomly assigned to passive use.150”
From Digital Ecosystems, Children, and Adolescents: Technical Report (2026) · cites this paper as [150]
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Digital Ecosystems, Children, and Adolescents: Technical Report
Munzer, T., Milkovich, L. M., Madigan, S., Tomopoulos, S., Parga-Belinkie, J., Ajumobi, T., Cross, C., Gerwin, R., Council on Communications and Media, Radesky, J., et al. (2026) · Pediatrics · doi:10.1542/peds.2025-075321 · Cited by 14 · see citing works
- Authors
- Li, S. H., Corkish, B., & Werner-Seidler, A.
- Affiliations
- Black Dog Institute (AU)
- Black Dog Institute, University of New South Wales
- Corresponding author
- Li, Sophie H.
- Venue
- Cognition and Emotion
- Publisher
- Informa UK Limited
- Published
- 2024-12-13
- Volume
- 39
- Issue
- 6
- Pages
- 1329-1339
- ISSN
- 0269-9931 (ISSN-L)
- 1464-0600
- OpenAlex
- W4405364718
- Cited by
- 7
- References
- 13
- Citations by year
- 2026: 7
- FWCI
- 5.04
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Cognition & Emotion (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- the Black Dog Institute.
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Impact of Technology on Adolescents
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Mental Health via Writing
- Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Computer Science Applications › Digital Media and Philosophy
- Keywords
- active social media use, passive social media use, mood regulation, sad mood, emotion regulation strategies, mood induction, youth, screen time, mental health, social media use
- MeSH terms
- Screen Time, Emotional Regulation, Adolescent, Affect, Female, Humans, Male, Young Adult, Social Media
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