The DOI matches its Crossref record; 49 of the 51 references it cites were found in a registry or an index; none of the 43 sources its claims cite is checked for support yet.
Does Social Media Use Increase Depressive Symptoms? A Reverse Causation Perspective
Open accessAbstract
According to the World Health Organization (1), 264 million individuals worldwide suffer from depression—a condition characterized by feelings of low self-worth, impaired concentration, and disturbed sleep, among various other maladaptive symptoms (2). Adolescents between 13 and 18 years of age are also vulnerable (3), with a 52% increase in the prevalence of depression among adolescents from 2005 to 2017 (4). Depression is tied to many serious problems including failure to complete education, higher unplanned parenthood rates, poorer interpersonal relations, and heightened risk of substance abuse and suicidality (5–7).
Overview
AI snapshot
Written from the paper’s full text.
TL;DR
This conceptual review argues that the dominant claim that social media use causes depressive symptoms is premature and likely reversed: depressiveness more plausibly drives (problematic) social media use. Drawing on longitudinal and experimental evidence, the authors contend that research should focus on antecedents of maladaptive social media use rather than treating social media as the culprit.
Key findings
- Longitudinal studies cited show that baseline social media frequency did not predict later depressive symptoms (e.g., Jensen et al. over 1–2 years; studies spanning 8–9 years), while depressive symptoms did precede increased social media use (Heffer et al. over 2 and 6 years; Raudsepp & Kais over 2 years; Puukko et al. over 6 years).
- Hampton's longitudinal panel of American adults found social media use was associated with *reduced* psychological distress.
- Experimental manipulations of social media use do not support a depression-causing effect: Hall et al.'s 0/2/3/4-week abstinence study found no change in loneliness or well-being, and Vally & D'Souza found a week of abstinence reduced life satisfaction and increased negative affect and perceived stress.
- A bidirectional/cascading loop is possible: Raudsepp found problematic social media use predicted depressive symptoms over 2 years, and Turel et al. found abstinence reduced perceived stress only for excessive users.
Methods
- Design: narrative/conceptual review (no primary data collection) critically examining longitudinal and experimental literature on the social media–depression link.
- Evidence base: cited longitudinal panel and cohort studies of adolescents, undergraduates, and adults, plus experimental abstinence/limitation studies (e.g., 30-min daily limits over 3 weeks; 1-week abstinence).
- Analysis: qualitative synthesis organized around (1) longitudinal findings on temporal ordering and (2) experimental findings on causality and confounding; supplemented by theoretical arguments (compensatory internet use theory, sociocognitive model of internet addiction, evolutionary social-monitoring perspective).
Limitations
- Stated by the paper: the available data are "meager" given the lack of studies guided by the reverse causal direction; most experimental work manipulates social media use rather than depressiveness; retrospective self-reports of social media use may be biased and underestimate usage; longitudinal studies often use coarse frequency measures and too few time points.
- Evident from the text: this is a selective narrative review rather than a systematic one, and its conclusions rest on the authors' interpretation of cited studies rather than new empirical testing; the paper itself notes the link remains "contentious" and cites contrasting results (e.g., Ferguson; Orben & Przybylski).
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Claims the paper makes
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In the paper
“Further, using a longitudinal panel design on a sample of American adults, Hampton (33) showed that social media use was in fact associated with reduced psychological distress due to the social opportunities afforded by social networking sites.”
§ Does Social Media Use Increase Depressive Symptoms? A Reverse Causation Perspective > Evidence for Reverse Causality in the Relationship between Social Media and Depressive Symptoms > Longitudinal Findings
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites [33] Hampton, 2019, Social media and change in psychological distress over time: the role of social causation, J Comput Mediat Commun source
Tests✓ Asserted: passes✓ Checkable: passes✓ Load-bearing: passes✓ Based: passesIn the paper
“Individuals who are insecure about being accepted are motivated to seek information that may reaffirm their social status, leading to an obsession with social comparisons and other social diagnostic cues (27).”
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites [27] Stiles, 2004, Adverse social comparison processes and negative self-feelings: a test of alternative models, Soc Behav Personality source
Tests✓ Asserted: passes✓ Checkable: passes✓ Load-bearing: passes✓ Based: passesIn the paper
“Thus, the evolutionary perspective suggests that social media can hijack our evolved tendency to monitor for social cues and perceive social information as rewarding (28), and depressed individuals are especially vulnerable to being sucked in by social media as they experience a stronger need to alleviate feelings of insecurity, low self-worth, or hopelessness.”
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites [28] Lim, 2019, Social media source
Tests✓ Asserted: passes✓ Checkable: passes✓ Load-bearing: passes✓ Based: passesNone of the sources cited for this claim have been checked yet.
In the paper
“More prolonged studies spanning 8 or 9 years have further corroborated the view that frequency of social media use does not longitudinally predict depressive symptoms in adolescents even when studied across developmental periods from adolescence to young adulthood (31, 32).”
§ Does Social Media Use Increase Depressive Symptoms? A Reverse Causation Perspective > Evidence for Reverse Causality in the Relationship between Social Media and Depressive Symptoms > Longitudinal Findings
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites [31] Coyne, 2020, Does time spent using social media impact mental health? An eight year longitudinal study, Comput Hum Behav source
- Not checked yetcites [32] Schemer, 2021, The impact of internet and social media use on well-being: a longitudinal analysis of adolescents across nine years, J Comput Mediat Commun source
Load-bearingStrength:boosted· not yet calibratedTests✓ Asserted: passes✓ Checkable: passes✓ Load-bearing: passes✓ Based: passesNone of the sources cited for this claim have been checked yet.
In the paper
“The heavy reliance on correlational data severely limits our ability to infer directionality and argue that exposure to social media causes depression (11, 22).”
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites [11] Brunborg, 2019, Increase in time spent on social media is associated with modest increase in depression, conduct problems, and episodic heavy drinking, J Adolesc source
- Not checked yetcites [22] Yoon, 2019, Is social network site usage related to depression? A meta-analysis of Facebook–depression relations, J Affect Disord source
Load-bearingStrength:plain· not yet calibratedTests✓ Asserted: passes✓ Checkable: passes✓ Load-bearing: passes✓ Based: passesA conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Thus, the evolutionary perspective suggests that social media can hijack our evolved tendency to monitor for social cues and perceive social information as rewarding (28), and depressed individuals are especially vulnerable to being sucked in by social media as they experience a stronger need to alleviate feelings of insecurity, low self-worth, or hopelessness.”
Tests✓ Asserted: passes✓ Checkable: passes✓ Load-bearing: passes✓ Based: passesA conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Several lines of reasoning also suggest that the direction of social media causing depression might instead be reversed.”
Tests✓ Asserted: passes✓ Checkable: passes✓ Load-bearing: passes✓ Based: passesNone of the sources cited for this claim have been checked yet.
In the paper
“Cross-sectional and correlational trend analyses appear to show increases in depression rates alongside increased social media engagement [(9, 11–14); also see (15), for a contrasting result].”
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites [9] Ivie, 2020, A meta-analysis of the association between adolescent social media use and depressive symptoms, J Affect Disord source
- Not checked yetcites [11] Brunborg, 2019, Increase in time spent on social media is associated with modest increase in depression, conduct problems, and episodic heavy drinking, J Adolesc source
- Not checked yetcites [12] Keles, 2020, A systematic review: the influence of social media on depression, anxiety and psychological distress in adolescents, Int J Adolesc Youth source
- Not checked yetcites [13] Lin, 2016, Association between social media use and depression among US young adults, Depress Anxiety source
- Not checked yetcites [14] Twenge, 2018, Increases in depressive symptoms, suicide-related outcomes, and suicide rates among US adolescents after 2010 and links to increased new media screen time, Clin Psychol Sci source
- Not checked yetcites [15] Ferguson, 2021, Links between screen use and depressive symptoms in adolescents over 16 years: is there evidence for increased harm?, Dev Sci source
Tests✓ Asserted: passes✓ Checkable: passes✓ Load-bearing: passes✓ Based: passesA conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“For example, an individual suffering from depressive symptoms may turn to social networking sites for social validation through gaining likes and followers.”
Tests✓ Asserted: passes✓ Checkable: passes✓ Load-bearing: passes✓ Based: passesIn the paper
“Jensen et al. (30) found that baseline frequency of social media use did not predict increased daily depressive symptoms at 1- to 2-year follow-up in a demographically representative sample of adolescents.”
§ Does Social Media Use Increase Depressive Symptoms? A Reverse Causation Perspective > Evidence for Reverse Causality in the Relationship between Social Media and Depressive Symptoms > Longitudinal Findings
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites [30] Jensen, 2019, Young adolescents' digital technology use and mental health symptoms: little evidence of longitudinal or daily linkages, Clin Psychol Sci source
Load-bearingStrength:plain· not yet calibratedTests✓ Asserted: passes✓ Checkable: passes✓ Load-bearing: passes✓ Based: passes
- Probably not a substantial claim. 6
- It may state two separate claims as one. 13
In the paper
“The sociocognitive model of internet addiction (24) similarly proposes that because online and social media stimuli can be psychologically rewarding, people are incentivized to stay engaged, but those with poorer self-regulation (e.g., individuals with psychological disorders) are especially susceptible to developing harmful social media habits.”
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites [24] LaRose, 2003, Unregulated internet usage: addiction, habit, or deficient self-regulation?, Media Psychol source
Strength:plain· not yet calibratedCausal:conditional· not yet calibratedTests✓ Asserted: passes✓ Checkable: passes✗ Load-bearing: fails✓ Based: passesProbably not a substantial claim. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it. It may state two separate claims as one.
In the paper
“Similarly, Raudsepp and Kais's (35) 2-year study of adolescent girls revealed that baseline levels of depressive symptoms predicted problematic social media use, whereas prior social media use did not predict depressive symptoms.”
§ Does Social Media Use Increase Depressive Symptoms? A Reverse Causation Perspective > Evidence for Reverse Causality in the Relationship between Social Media and Depressive Symptoms > Longitudinal Findings
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites [35] Raudsepp, 2019, Longitudinal associations between problematic social media use and depressive symptoms in adolescent girls, Prevent Med Rep source
Tests✓ Asserted: passes✓ Checkable: passes✓ Load-bearing: passes✓ Based: passesIt may state two separate claims as one.
None of the sources cited for this claim have been checked yet.
In the paper
“A bidirectional relationship may also exist due to a cascading feedback loop whereby depression engenders compensatory social media use, which in turn aggravates depressive symptoms due to unhealthy social comparisons and other detrimental forms of social interaction (37, 38).”
§ Does Social Media Use Increase Depressive Symptoms? A Reverse Causation Perspective > Evidence for Reverse Causality in the Relationship between Social Media and Depressive Symptoms > Longitudinal Findings
What the sources say
Tests✓ Asserted: passes✓ Checkable: passes✓ Load-bearing: passes✓ Based: passesIt may state two separate claims as one.
In the paper
“According to the theory of compensatory internet use (23), people may view online activities such as social media as a means to alleviate negative feelings or fulfill unmet psychosocial needs.”
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites [23] Kardefelt-Winther, 2014, A conceptual and methodological critique of internet addiction research: towards a model of compensatory internet use, Comput Hum Behav source
Tests✓ Asserted: passes✓ Checkable: passes✓ Load-bearing: passes✓ Based: passesProbably not a substantial claim.
In the paper
“For instance, Heffer et al. (34) followed samples of adolescents and undergraduates over 2 and 6 years, respectively, and demonstrated that depressive symptoms preceded increased social media use among female adolescents, while social media usage did not precede depressive symptoms across both samples.”
§ Does Social Media Use Increase Depressive Symptoms? A Reverse Causation Perspective > Evidence for Reverse Causality in the Relationship between Social Media and Depressive Symptoms > Longitudinal Findings
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites [34] Heffer, 2019, The longitudinal association between social-media use and depressive symptoms among adolescents and young adults: an empirical reply to Twenge et al. (2018), Clin Psychol Sci source
Tests✓ Asserted: passes✓ Checkable: passes✓ Load-bearing: passes✓ Based: passesIt may state two separate claims as one.
In the paper
“While longitudinal designs alone do not provide grounds for causal conclusions, they at least allow the temporal ordering of key variables to be determined (29).”
§ Does Social Media Use Increase Depressive Symptoms? A Reverse Causation Perspective > Evidence for Reverse Causality in the Relationship between Social Media and Depressive Symptoms > Longitudinal Findings
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites [29] Pirlott, 2016, Design approaches to experimental mediation, J Exp Soc Psychol source
Load-bearingStrength:plain· not yet calibratedTests✓ Asserted: passes✓ Checkable: passes✓ Load-bearing: passes✓ Based: passesProbably not a substantial claim. It may state two separate claims as one.
None of the sources cited for this claim have been checked yet.
In the paper
“Although the link between social media use and depression is contentious (16, 17), several have nonetheless implicated social media as pervasive and detrimental to psychological well-being.”
What the sources say
Tests✓ Asserted: passes✓ Checkable: passes✓ Load-bearing: passes✓ Based: passesProbably not a substantial claim.
None of the sources cited for this claim have been checked yet.
In the paper
“As highly social creatures, humans evolved a desire for belonging and social acceptance (25), which is facilitated by social monitoring motives to detect cues for social approval or rejection (26).”
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites [25] Leary, 2000, The nature and function of self-esteem: sociometer theory, Adv Exp Soc Psychol source
- Not checked yetcites [26] Pickett, 2005, The social monitoring system: enhanced sensitivity to social cues as an adaptive response to social exclusion
Strength:plain· not yet calibratedCausal:direct· not yet calibratedTests✓ Asserted: passes✓ Checkable: passes? Load-bearing: unclear✓ Based: passesIt may state two separate claims as one.
In the paper
“Examining the within-person effects of depressive symptoms on increased social media use over 6 years during early and late adolescence, Puukko et al. (36) found that depressive symptoms predicted increases in social media use for both boys and girls. Conversely, social media use was not found to predict depressive symptoms.”
§ Does Social Media Use Increase Depressive Symptoms? A Reverse Causation Perspective > Evidence for Reverse Causality in the Relationship between Social Media and Depressive Symptoms > Longitudinal Findings
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites [36] Puukko, 2020, Social media use and depressive symptoms—A longitudinal study from early to late adolescence, Int J Environ Res Public Health source
Tests✓ Asserted: passes✓ Checkable: passes✓ Load-bearing: passes✓ Based: passesIt may state two separate claims as one.
None of the sources cited for this claim have been checked yet.
In the paper
“Meta-analyses of cross-sectional studies on social media use and depression also report small pooled effect sizes (9, 11, 12), suggesting the presence of extraneous variables.”
§ Does Social Media Use Increase Depressive Symptoms? A Reverse Causation Perspective > Evidence for Reverse Causality in the Relationship between Social Media and Depressive Symptoms > Experimental Findings
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites [9] Ivie, 2020, A meta-analysis of the association between adolescent social media use and depressive symptoms, J Affect Disord source
- Not checked yetcites [11] Brunborg, 2019, Increase in time spent on social media is associated with modest increase in depression, conduct problems, and episodic heavy drinking, J Adolesc source
- Not checked yetcites [12] Keles, 2020, A systematic review: the influence of social media on depression, anxiety and psychological distress in adolescents, Int J Adolesc Youth source
Tests✓ Asserted: passes✓ Checkable: passes✓ Load-bearing: passes✓ Based: passesIt may state two separate claims as one.
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“This result highlights the importance of accounting for antecedents of problematic social media use, such as depressive tendencies or other predispositions, otherwise psychological outcomes as a function of social media use remains unclear.”
§ Does Social Media Use Increase Depressive Symptoms? A Reverse Causation Perspective > Evidence for Reverse Causality in the Relationship between Social Media and Depressive Symptoms > Experimental Findings
Load-bearingStrength:plain· not yet calibratedTests✓ Asserted: passes✗ Checkable: fails✓ Load-bearing: passes✓ Based: passesProbably not a substantial claim. It may be too vague to check against evidence. It may state two separate claims as one.
In the paper
“For instance, depressive mood has been found to be associated less with active social media use (e.g., commenting, messaging) and more with passive social media use [e.g., scrolling; (47)].”
§ Does Social Media Use Increase Depressive Symptoms? A Reverse Causation Perspective > Discussion and Future Directions
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites [47] Thorisdottir, 2019, Active and passive social media use and symptoms of anxiety and depressed mood among Icelandic adolescents, Cyberpsychol Behav Soc Netw source
Strength:plain· not yet calibratedCausal:correlational· not yet calibratedTests✓ Asserted: passes✓ Checkable: passes✗ Load-bearing: fails✓ Based: passesProbably not a substantial claim. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
In the paper
“Pointing to the modulating role of individual differences, Turel et al. (44) found that a week of social media abstinence reduced perceived stress levels, but only for excessive social media users.”
§ Does Social Media Use Increase Depressive Symptoms? A Reverse Causation Perspective > Evidence for Reverse Causality in the Relationship between Social Media and Depressive Symptoms > Experimental Findings
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites [44] Turel, 2018, Short abstinence from online social networking sites reduces perceived stress, especially in excessive users, Psychiatry Res source
Tests✓ Asserted: passes✓ Checkable: passes✓ Load-bearing: passes✓ Based: passesIt may state two separate claims as one.
In the paper
“Moreover, Vally and D'Souza (42) showed that a week-long abstinence from social media led to reduced life satisfaction and increased negative affect and perceived stress.”
§ Does Social Media Use Increase Depressive Symptoms? A Reverse Causation Perspective > Evidence for Reverse Causality in the Relationship between Social Media and Depressive Symptoms > Experimental Findings
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites [42] Vally, 2019, Abstinence from social media use, subjective well-being, stress, and loneliness, Perspect Psychiatr Care source
Tests✓ Asserted: passes✓ Checkable: passes✓ Load-bearing: passes✓ Based: passesIt may state two separate claims as one.
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Much of this work is lamentably correlational, but despite the inability to deduce causality from such data, many researchers have proceeded to point at social media for today's increased rates of depression while ignoring the reverse possibility that depressiveness may, in fact, explain increased social media use.”
§ Does Social Media Use Increase Depressive Symptoms? A Reverse Causation Perspective > Discussion and Future Directions
Tests✓ Asserted: passes✓ Checkable: passes✓ Load-bearing: passes✓ Based: passesIt may state two separate claims as one.
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Together, the longitudinal evidence suggests that claims that exposure to social media leads to depressive symptoms might be exaggerated, and the reverse relationship whereby depressiveness prompts more (and unhealthy) social media use has been overlooked.”
§ Does Social Media Use Increase Depressive Symptoms? A Reverse Causation Perspective > Evidence for Reverse Causality in the Relationship between Social Media and Depressive Symptoms > Longitudinal Findings
Tests✓ Asserted: passes✓ Checkable: passes✓ Load-bearing: passes✓ Based: passesIt may state two separate claims as one.
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
In the citing paper
“Bidirectional associations between screen time and mental health could be supported by the self-perpetuating feedback loop model [131], whereby screen use leads to worsening mental health and poor mental health leads to increasing reliance on screens to cope [132].”
From Screen time and mental health: a prospective analysis of the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study (2024) · cites this paper as [132]
Citations
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“Although the link between social media use and depression is contentious (16, 17), several have nonetheless implicated social media as pervasive and detrimental to psychological well-being.”
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K. Kaye, L., Orben, A., A. Ellis, D., C. Hunter, S., & Houghton, S. (2020) · International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health · doi:10.3390/ijerph17103661 · Cited by 304 · cited 1×
“Hence, future longitudinal work should employ objective data logs or screen-time apps as measures of social media frequency (49).”
BackgroundHeffer, T., Good, M., Daly, O., MacDonell, E., & Willoughby, T. (2019) · Clinical Psychological Science · doi:10.1177/2167702618812727 · Cited by 278
Jensen, M., George, M. J., Russell, M. R., & Odgers, C. L. (2019) · Clinical Psychological Science · doi:10.1177/2167702619859336 · Cited by 242 · cited 1×
“(30) found that baseline frequency of social media use did not predict increased daily depressive symptoms at 1- to 2-year followup in a demographically representative sample of adolescents.”
BackgroundSocial media and moral panics: Assessing the effects of technological change on societal reaction
Walsh, J. P. (2020) · International Journal of Cultural Studies · doi:10.1177/1367877920912257 · Cited by 198 · cited 1×
“For instance, the haste to pass social media a guilty verdict might stem from moral panic brought about by the fear of contemporary technology (20), where the third-person effect in which individuals overattribute certain behaviors to the influence of mass communication (21) is a possible catalyst.”
BackgroundZhou, C., Zhong, J., Zou, B., Fang, L., Chen, J., Deng, X., Zhang, L., Zhao, X., Qu, Z., Lei, Y., et al. (2017) · PLOS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0172270 · Cited by 187 · cited 3×
“According to the World Health Organization (1), 264 million individuals worldwide suffer from depression—a condition characterized by feelings of low self-worth, impaired concentration, and disturbed sleep, among various other maladaptive symptoms (2).”
BackgroundInfluentialUsing media for coping: a scoping review
Wolfers, L. N., & Schneider, F. M. (2021) · Communication Research · doi:10.1177/0093650220939778 · Cited by 175
Schemer, C., Masur, P. K., Geiß, S., Müller, P., & Schäfer, S. (2021) · Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication · doi:10.1093/jcmc/zmaa014 · Cited by 166 · cited 1×
“More prolonged studies spanning 8 or 9 years have further corroborated the view that frequency of social media use does not longitudinally predict depressive symptoms in adolescents even when studied across developmental periods from adolescence to young adulthood (31, 32).”
BackgroundStieger, S., & Lewetz, D. (2018) · Cyberpsychology Behavior and Social Networking · doi:10.1089/cyber.2018.0070 · Cited by 135 · cited 1×
“(40) manipulated social media use by randomly assigning undergraduates to varying durations of abstinence (0, 2, 3, and 4 weeks) and found that social media abstention did not account for changes in loneliness or subjective well-being [see (41) for similar finding].”
BackgroundScrutinizing the effects of digital technology on mental health
Haidt, J., & Allen, N. (2020) · Nature · doi:10.1038/d41586-020-00296-x · Cited by 133 · cited 1×
“Researchers seeking to understand this prevalence of depression in modern society have identified social media use as a key risk factor (8, 9).”
BackgroundExperimentally manipulating social media abstinence: results of a four-week diary study
Hall, J. A., Xing, C., Ross, E. M., & Johnson, R. M. (2021) · Media Psychology · doi:10.1080/15213269.2019.1688171 · Cited by 120 · cited 1×
“(40) manipulated social media use by randomly assigning undergraduates to varying durations of abstinence (0, 2, 3, and 4 weeks) and found that social media abstention did not account for changes in loneliness or subjective well-being [see (41) for similar finding].”
BackgroundBrunborg, G. S., & Burdzovic Andreas, J. (2019) · Journal of Adolescence · doi:10.1016/j.adolescence.2019.06.013 · Cited by 118 · cited 2×
“The heavy reliance on correlational data severely limits our ability to infer directionality and argue that exposure to social media causes depression (11, 22).”
BackgroundRaudsepp, L., & Kais, K. (2019) · Preventive Medicine Reports · doi:10.1016/j.pmedr.2019.100925 · Cited by 114 · cited 1×
“Similarly, Raudsepp and Kais’s (35) 2-year study of adolescent girls revealed that baseline levels of depressive symptoms predicted problematic social media use, whereas prior social media use did not predict depressive symptoms.”
BackgroundTurel, O., Cavagnaro, D. R., & Meshi, D. (2018) · Psychiatry Research · doi:10.1016/j.psychres.2018.11.017 · Cited by 113 · cited 1×
“(44) found that a week of social media abstinence reduced perceived stress levels, but only for excessive social media users.”
BackgroundSocial Media Use and Depressive Symptoms-A Longitudinal Study from Early to Late Adolescence
Puukko, K., Hietajärvi, L., Maksniemi, E., Alho, K., & Salmela-Aro, K. (2020) · International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health · doi:10.3390/ijerph17165921 · Cited by 99 · cited 1×
“(36) found that depressive symptoms predicted increases in social media use for both boys and girls.”
BackgroundSocial media and change in psychological distress over time: the role of social causation
Hampton, K. N. (2019) · Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication · doi:10.1093/jcmc/zmz010 · Cited by 98
Abstinence from social media use, subjective well-being, stress, and loneliness
Vally, Z., & D'Souza, C. G. (2019) · Perspectives In Psychiatric Care · doi:10.1111/ppc.12431 · Cited by 83 · cited 1×
“Moreover, Vally and D’Souza (42) showed that a week-long abstinence from social media led to reduced life satisfaction and increased negative affect and perceived stress.”
BackgroundRaudsepp, L. (2019) · Journal of Adolescence · doi:10.1016/j.adolescence.2019.09.005 · Cited by 83 · cited 1×
“Raudsepp (39) pointed to this bidirectionality by showing that problematic social media use (i.”
BackgroundAdverse social comparison processes and negative self-feelings: a test of alternative models
Stiles, B. L., & Kaplan, H. B. (2004) · Social Behavior and Personality An International Journal · doi:10.2224/sbp.2004.32.1.31 · Cited by 30
Orben, A. C., Dienlin, T., & Przybylski, A. K. (2019) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1073/pnas.1909553116 · Cited by 20 · cited 1×
“Lastly, given the considerable implications of findings from this research direction for adolescents’ technologyuse regulations and mental health, it is crucial that scholars embrace open scientific practices, such as pre-registration and utilization of the open science framework, to encourage future replications and…”
BackgroundFerguson, C. J. (2021) · Developmental Science · doi:10.1111/desc.13008 · Cited by 13 · cited 1×
“Cross-sectional and correlational trend analyses appear to show increases in depression rates alongside increased social media engagement [(9, 11–14); also see (15), for a contrasting result].”
BackgroundLim, A. J. Y., & Yong, J. C. (2019) · Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science · doi:10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_3847-1 · Cited by 3
Flagged first, then by citations
2 of the 51 references couldn’t be matched to a known paper.
Research works printed but not linked: 1
- Pickett, 2005, The social monitoring system: enhanced sensitivity to social cues as an adaptive response to social exclusion, 213
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Social media use and well-being: What we know and what we need to know
Valkenburg, P. M. (2022) · Current Opinion in Psychology · doi:10.1016/j.copsyc.2021.12.006 · Cited by 373
Lambert, J. D., Barnstable, G., Minter, E., Cooper, J., & McEwan, D. (2022) · Cyberpsychology Behavior and Social Networking · doi:10.1089/cyber.2021.0324 · Cited by 136
“15,16 Furthermore, there is a need to understand whether the effect of SM usage-reduction interventions on mental health is mediated by the time spent on different SM platforms.”
Nagata, J. M., Al-Shoaibi, A. A. A., Leong, A. W., Zamora, G., Testa, A., Ganson, K. T., & Baker, F. C. (2024) · BMC Public Health · doi:10.1186/s12889-024-20102-x · Cited by 103
“Bidirectional associations between screen time and mental health could be supported by the self-perpetuating feedback loop model [131], whereby screen use leads to worsening mental health and poor mental health leads to increasing reliance on screens to cope [132].”
BackgroundA systematic review on automated clinical depression diagnosis
Mao, K., Wu, Y., & Chen, J. (2023) · npj Mental Health Research · doi:10.1038/s44184-023-00040-z · Cited by 106
The Relationship between Social Media and the Increase in Mental Health Problems
Beyari, H. (2023) · International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health · doi:10.3390/ijerph20032383 · Cited by 81
“Some turn to social media to increase followers and gain a sense of gratification to compensate for their emotional and psychological challenges [24].”
Background
Metadata
- Authors
- Hartanto, A., Quek, F. Y. X., Tng, G. Y. Q., & Yong, J. C.
- Affiliations
- Singapore Management University (SG)
- Nanyang Technological University (SG)
- Corresponding author
- Hartanto, Andree
- Venue
- Frontiers in Psychiatry
- Publisher
- Frontiers Media SA
- Published
- 2021-03-23
- Volume
- 12
- Pages
- 641934-641934
- ISSN
- 1664-0640 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC8021694
- OpenAlex
- W3138027474
- Semantic Scholar
- 57878ade1fe9e67b8c30d73c7933abf1653eec47
- Cited by
- 107
- References
- 51
- Citations by year
- 2026: 17 · 2025: 23 · 2024: 17 · 2023: 23 · 2022: 23 · 2021: 2
- FWCI
- 22.52
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Frontiers in Psychiatry (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Northumbria Research Link (Northumbria University) (acceptedVersion)
- Singapore Management University Institutional Knowledge (InK) (Singapore Management University) (submittedVersion)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- DR-NTU (Nanyang Technological University) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Funders
- Singapore Management University (20-C242-SMU-001)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Impact of Technology on Adolescents
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Mental Health via Writing
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development
- Keywords
- social media use, depressive symptoms, depression, adolescents, reverse causality
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
A language model drew the claims from the paper on 2026-10-08, under version 3 of the claim definition (model deepseek-v4.1-flash, prompt extract-v3).
A second model labelled each claim on 2026-10-08 (model jev-1.13-20260917, definition revision gold-guideline-v0.2).
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
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