Teens With Mental Health Conditions Spend More Time Daily on Social Media

THURSDAY, May 8, 2025 (HealthDay News) — Adolescents with mental health conditions report spending more time on social media than those without mental health conditions, according to a study published online May 5 in Nature Human Behaviour.

Luisa Fassi, from the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom, and colleagues used data from 3,340 U.K. teens (aged 11 to 19 years) to assess social media use in adolescents with (16 percent) and without mental health conditions.

The researchers found that adolescents with mental health conditions reported spending more time on social media (mean of 50 extra minutes per day) and were less happy about the number of online friends than adolescents without conditions. There were differences in social media use by condition type, with adolescents with internalizing conditions spending more time on social media, engaging in more social comparison, and experiencing greater impact of feedback on mood, alongside lower happiness about the number of online friends and lower honest self-disclosure. Adolescents with externalizing conditions only reported more time spent.

“This highlights aspects of social media use that might present an increased risk to this already vulnerable group and provides a window for future research to ensure that the digital world is safe for all children regardless of mental health status,” the authors write.

Abstract/Full Text