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Relationship Between Social Media Use and Adolescent Mental Health - a

Systematic Review

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DOI: 10.5604/01.3001.0053.9392

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 1242 10.5604/01.3001.0053.9392

International Journal of Pedagogy

Innovation and New Technologies
journal homepage: http://www.ijpint.com

ISSN:
ISSN:2392-0092,
2392-0092, Vol.
Vol.10,
9, No.
No.1,1, 2022
2023

Relationship Between Social Media Use

and Adolescent Mental Health – a Systematic Review
Dorota Anna Siemieniecka , Jolanta Jarczyńska

CONTACT: Dorota Anna Siemieniecka, Professor of UMK, Nicolaus Copernicus University, Toruń, Poland,
E-mail: [email protected]
Jolanta Jarczyńska, PhD, Kazimierz Wielki University, Bydgoszcz, Poland,
E-mail: [email protected]

Keywords: Abstract:
media pedagogy, social Social media has been inseparably linked to the daily lives of adolescents for several decades. In
media, youth mental health, social and scientific discourse, we often hear that they are considered one of the significant fac-
media education tors responsible for the observed increase in mental health problems among young people in
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0)

recent decades. Therefore, understanding the impact of these media on the mental well-being of
young individuals has become a priority. For this purpose, a systematic review of research on the
relationship between adolescents’ use of social media and their mental health was conducted. The systematic review was carried
out following the PRISMA standards. Its aim was to identify all studies exploring the association between adolescents’ engagement
in social media use and the state of their mental health, specifically targeting individuals aged 12-18 years. The EBSCOhost search
engine was employed for this purpose, and databases such as Academic Search Ultimate, Education Source Ultimate, Applied Sci-
ence & Technology Source Ultimate, Medline, Eric, and APA PsycArticle were searched from May to June 2023, aiming to identify
studies published between 2013 and 2023. A total of 25 articles were identified from 16,787 records and subjected to evaluation. The
results presented in these articles did not provide clear evidence for a linear, strong, and positive association between adolescents’
use of social media and the occurrence of mental health problems. The majority of the evaluated research projects had several limi-
tations, therefore it seems justified to conduct further studies with significantly improved measurement procedures, which could
yield valuable and clinically relevant data on the relationship between social media use and the mental health of young individuals.

Introduction
Children’s Mental Health

Protecting the mental health of children and adolescents is currently one of the most important challenges in
the modern world. Alarming statistics show that mental health indicators in the child and adolescent popula-
tion are deteriorating year on year. Mental disorders have become a major health problem in the 21st century.
In particular, this issue gained prominence after the detection of the first case of COVID-19 in 2020, which set
off a wave of pandemics whose development strongly affected the well-being and mental health of adolescents.
In May 2020, the United Nations issued a report on the relationship between COVID-19 and mental
health. It noted that even before the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus outbreak, global mental health statistics were
already dramatic, and that the current epidemiological situation could make them much worse (Wojtczuk,
2020). A 2021 report issued by UNICEF on the condition of adolescents during the pandemic1 reads that the

1
The state of the world’s children 2021. On my mind. Promoting, protecting and caring for children’s mental health. United Nations
Children’s Fund (UNICEF), October 2021. https://www.unicef.org/media/108036/file/SOWC-2021-executive-summary.pdf

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 Dorota Anna Siemieniecka , Jolanta Jarczyńska
Relationship Between Social Media Use and Adolescent Mental Health – a Systematic Review 43
coronavirus epidemic has had many negative consequences for the mental health of children and adolescents.
It is estimated that 89 million growing boys aged 10–19 and 77 million girls of that age suffer from mental dis-
orders. The highest prevalence rates of these disorders are diagnosed in the Middle East, North Africa, North
and West America and selected regions in Europe. Depression and anxiety disorders account for up to 40% of
these. A report presenting the results of an analysis of the mental health situation of children and adolescents
in Europe and the trends affecting their well-being shows that 19% of boys and more than 16% of girls in
Europe aged 15 to 19 suffer from mental health disorders. 9 million adolescents in Europe (aged 10–19) mani-
fest selected mental disorders, with anxiety disorders and depression accounting for more than half of them.
Suicide is the second most common cause of death among adolescents in Europe. Only road traffic accidents
are the cause of death of more children aged 15 to 19. The WHO focuses on adolescent mental health, as the
data collected indicates that mental health problems are rather rare at the early school age stage. Around the
age of 13, these problems are observed to emerge and grow dynamically. Analyses show that 50% of all mental
health disorders originate in adolescence, just before the age of 14 (Kessler et al., 2007). Their presence often
brings negative consequences for adolescents’ development, being associated with lower educational attain-
ment, school problems including dropping out of school, disrupted social relationships and increased risk of
substance abuse and self-injurious behaviour (Gore et al., 2011; Copeland et al., 2014; Hetrick et al., 2016).
Self-harm and suicide attempts are considered to be important indicators of adolescents’ mental health. For
example, the rate of self-harm in the UK has increased by 68% among girls aged 13–16 in the last decade
(Morgan et al., 2017). In turn, Germany followed by Poland have been leading the way in recent years in terms
of fatal suicide attempts by teenagers aged 10–192. The fact that adolescents’ mental health is drastically dete-
riorating is also indicated by the data in the research report “Spotlight on Adolescent Health and Well-being”3
published in 2020 by the international research network HBSC (Health Behaviour in School-age Children).
Polish teenagers rank second to last in assessing their health and life satisfaction among 45 countries. It turns
out that they are the most critical when it comes to their perception of their own bodies. The results of this
study and its earlier editions clearly indicate that their self-assessment of health and life satisfaction deterio-

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0)
rates with age. Girls are more often dissatisfied with their lives than boys. The older the age of the teenager, the
greater the level of dissatisfaction. Meanwhile, a study by Chinese researchers (Wang et al., 2016) found that
adolescents’ life satisfaction correlates with their use of social networks. The lower the level of satisfaction with
life among adolescents, the more excessive their use of Facebook was.
The results of numerous studies show that social media are an important source of tension and psycho-
logical problems for adolescents (Jenaro et al., 2007; Sampasa-Kanyinga& Lewis 2015;Jarczyńska, 2016; 2021;
2022). Researchers point out that, through the mechanism of social comparison, adolescents often develop
emotional problems and low self-esteem. This was confirmed by research conducted in 2017 by The Royal
Society of Public Health4 among others. It shows that seven out of ten people aged between 11 and 25 feel
worse about their bodies under the influence of Instagram. Half of respondents aged 14–24 reported that
Instagram and Facebook make them feel anxious, and two-thirds of respondents said that Facebook leads
to increased cyberbullying. A systematic review of up to 70 studies by Seabrook et al. (2016) confirms these
findings. It turns out that adolescents who make upward social comparisons on social networks (comparing
themselves to people with higher scores) are more likely to exhibit mood disorders (depression) and anxiety
disorders. The same results were pointed out by Appel, Gerlach and Crusius (2016), investigating the passive
use of Facebook by adolescents, accompanied by upward social comparisons.
Social media can also be looked at from a clear perspective, treating it as a protective factor. A number of
studies show that they can make it easier for adolescents to cope with mental health problems. They enable
them to share personal experiences, seek help from people who are experiencing similar difficulties, and build

2
Dzieci się liczą 2017. Raport o zagrożeniach bezpieczeństwa i rozwoju dzieci w Polsce, „Dziecko Krzywdzone. Teoria, badania,
praktyka”, 2017, nr 1. http://fdds.pl/_Resources/Persistent/e/d/9/e/ed9e604bde6479d99dcefb12244d1fa0bca5ac6c/Raport-Dzieci-
si%C4%99-licz%C4%85-2017.pdf
3
World Health Organization. Regional Office for Europe. Spotlight on adolescent health and well-being. Findings from the 2017/2018
Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) survey in Europe and Canada. International report. Volume 2. Key data. World
Health Organization. Regional Office for Europe 2020. https://apps.who.int/iris/handle/10665/332104.
4
#StatusOfMind. Social media and adolescents’ mental health and wellbeing. Youn health movement. Royal Society for Public Health,
May 2017. See: www.rsph.org.uk/static/uploaded/d125b27c-0b62-41c5-a2c0155a8887cd01.pdf

DOI: 10.5604/01.3001.0053.9392 Vol. 10, No. 1, 2023, pp. 42-63

 Dorota Anna Siemieniecka , Jolanta Jarczyńska
44 Relationship Between Social Media Use and Adolescent Mental Health – a Systematic Review

social interactions with peers and support groups (Ellison et al., 2007; Reid-Chassiakos et al., 2016). However,
the impact of this online social support seems to be more determined not by its quantity (the number of peo-
ple networking) but by its quality (Teo et al., 2013).

Social Media

Social media is defined as any digital tools or applications that allow their users to interact socially and that
can be easily distinguished from traditional media by the fact that their users not only receive their content,
but also create it (Moreno et al., 2014). According to this definition, social media encompasses a wide range
of applications and social networks (e.g. Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, Snapchat) that allow users to share
content, interact online and build communities. More than 4.7 billion people worldwide use social media,
equivalent to around 60% of the global population. It is estimated that by 2027, the number of people using
it worldwide will increase to around 5.85 billion. The average usage time of social media worldwide is 147
minutes a day, and the average person visits social media for 2½ hours a day. The country whose population
spends the most time per day on social media is the Philippines. Their average daily use of social media is as
much as 3 hours and 53 minutes. The demographic most involved in social media use are teenagers. This is
a trend that is observed around the world. For example, in the US, 90% of teenagers aged 13 to 17 use social
media, and 51% visit at least one social media site or app every day. The most used social media platform
among US teens is YouTube (used by up to 95% of US teens in 2022), immediately followed by TikTok (67%),
then Instagram (62%), Snapchat (59%), then Facebook (32%) (Digital 2023: Global overview report5).

Social Media and Adolescent Mental Health – Current Research

In recent years, there has been an increase in research aiming to establish the link between adolescents’ social
media use and their mental health (Moreno & Jolliff, 2022). This research primarily aims to determine whether
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0)

frequent use of social media by adolescents is associated with the occurrence of various mental health prob-
lems, such as depression, anxiety disorders, eating disorders due to disturbed body image perception and
externalising disorders. Unfortunately, the results of these studies are inconclusive. It is therefore necessary to
approach them with great care, which is certainly influenced by the research methodology used and the selec-
tion of research samples of varying sizes. The literature review by Odgers and Jensen (2020) noted that most
of the reports published to date are from correlational, cross-sectional and mixed studies.
The results of the analyses only indicate the presence of small, often weak associations between social
media use and adolescents’ mental health. These relationships do not allow clear inferences about the causal
nature and actual impact of social media on mental health. Moreover, as Odgers and Jensen (2020) point out,
the results of such studies rarely yield significant clinical or practical value. Similar conclusions are expressed
by Moreno and Jolliff (2022), who point out that when analysing the links between social media use and
mental health disorders in adolescents, it is important to consider other potential factors that may influence
the relationship. Therefore, research that takes into account mediating variables, such as ruminations or self-
esteem, is increasingly being undertaken to better understand the mechanisms of this relationship.
Research indicates that the effects of social media use on adolescents’ mental health are mixed. Some
studies highlight the potential dangers of heavy social media use for adolescents’ psychological well-being.
This concern stems from the fact that the use of these platforms can become habitual and lead to problematic
behaviour (cf. Siemieniecka et al., 2020; Majewska, 2021). Unfortunately, parents’ and teachers’ knowledge is
not sufficient to prevent and respond to the ever-increasing cyber threats (Siemieniecka&Majewska, 2022).
Being on social networks can become a favourite escape mechanism for modifying unpleasant moods in
adolescents. However, there are also concerns about the harmful effects of social media on the psychosocial
functioning of adolescents. Problems reported include loss of control over time spent using social media, loss
of interests, emotional problems and even the possibility of developing an addiction (Beard & Wolf, 2001;
Kuss & Griffiths, 2011; Satici& Uysal, 2015; Jarczyńska, 2021).

5
www://datareportal.com/reports/digital-2023-global-overview-report (accessed 29.06.2023)

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 Dorota Anna Siemieniecka , Jolanta Jarczyńska
Relationship Between Social Media Use and Adolescent Mental Health – a Systematic Review 45
Research suggests that the negative association between adolescents’ use of social networks and their
observed mental health problems is revealed by an overall decline in adolescent mental well-being as illus-
trated by increased rates of depression, anxiety disorders, eating disorders and suicide attempts (Best et al.,
2014; Hoare et al., 2016; McCrae et al., 2017; Marino et al., 2018; Keles et al., 2019; Twenge, 2019; Ivie et al.,
2020; Ohannessian et al., 2021).
In contrast, key benefits of social media use reported in adolescent research include the opportunity to
enhance self-esteem (Valkenburg et al., 2006), gain social capital, increased life satisfaction and social trust
(Ellison et al., 2007; Park et al., 2009; Wang et al., 2015), involving sharing opinions, building alliances and
receiving social support (O’Keeffe & Clarke-Pearson, 2011; Rosen, 2011; Deters & Mehl, 2013; Lilley et al.,
2014; Lenhart et al., 2015; Clark et al.,2018).
Keles et al. (2019) in the face of these reports indicate that social media can be viewed as a kind of double-
edged sword that can protect, but also threaten the mental health of adolescents. However, in order for us
to be able to adjudicate with greater certainty on the impact of social media on adolescents’ mental health,
we should, as recommended by Odgers and Jensen (2020), conduct experimental and quasi-experimental
research in this area of cognition, which will focus on the diversity of online experiences versus time spent in
front of a digital device screen and also take into account the heterogeneity of effects in different adolescent
populations.

Method
The method used in the study was a systematic literature review, which summarises the current state of knowl-
edge on a specific topic (Uman, 2011). The main aim of this review was to identify studies that present find-
ings on the relationship between adolescents aged 12-18 years old’s engagement in social media use and their
mental health condition. The review was conducted in accordance with the recommendations of the Preferred
Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) standards (Page et al., 2020; 2021),

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0)
which serve to enhance the methodological quality and reliability of the empirical data obtained and pro-
duced (Moher et al., 2009a; 2009b).
The review aimed to provide answers to the following research question: Is there a relationship between
adolescents’ engagement in social media use and their mental health and what is this relationship? The EBSCO
host search engine was used to identify studies publishing results on the relationship in question (it was used
to search databases such as: Academic Search Ultimate, Education Source Ultimate, Applied Science & Tech-
nology Source Ultimate, Medline, Eric, APA PsycArticle). It was used to search for publications in May–June
2023 using the following set of keywords/phrases: “adolescence”, “adolescent”, “teen” “youth” “juvenile”, “high
school student”, “secondary school student”, “school youth”, “social media”; “social networks”, “Instagram”,
“Facebook”, “TikTok”, “Internet usage”, “mental health”; “psychological well-being”, “mental disorders”, “mood
disorders”, “anxiety”, “anxiety disorders”, “psychological distress” “depression”, “internalising problems”. The
adopted time frame for the publication search covered the last decade, i.e. 2013-2023.

Eligibility criteria

The following eligibility criteria were adopted a priori, including inclusion criteria (covering publications eli-
gible for analysis) and exclusion criteria (disqualifying publications from analysis):
The formal inclusion criteria were:
(1) academic articles in peer-reviewed journals, articles in English; published between January 2013 and June
2023;
(2) research following a quantitative and qualitative research strategy published in peer-reviewed journals
with full text available in English;
(3) study participants: adolescents aged 12 to 18 years;
(4) exposure: measuring adolescents’ use of social media;
The substantive inclusion criteria were:
(1) peer-reviewed publications describing empirical research on the relationship between social media use by
adolescents aged 12–18 and their mental health status;

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 Dorota Anna Siemieniecka , Jolanta Jarczyńska
46 Relationship Between Social Media Use and Adolescent Mental Health – a Systematic Review

(2) outcome: mental health status (depression, anxiety disorders, mental suffering, self-harm, eating disor-
ders, internalising disorders were assessed using validated tools).
The exclusion criteria were as follows:
— crossing the age limit >12 – <18;
— exposure of adolescents to other online activities, such as playing video games;
— a description of the relationship or impact of social media on other domains of adolescents’ activity, e.g.
physical health, cognitive development, etc.
First, a search and selection of research material was carried out, taking into account the eligibility criteria
and using the keywords mentioned above. A total of 16,787 records were obtained. In the next step, duplicate
records were automatically removed (N=6,321). The removal of duplicates resulted in 10,466 records. Titles
and abstracts were then reviewed for eligibility criteria (inclusion and exclusion criteria). A total of 125 works
qualified for further review. A selection of the full content of the articles was carried out based on the inclu-
sion/exclusion criterion. The subject of the research, the purpose of the research, the research questions, the
research model, the research group, the results of the research, conclusions and implications for practice were
reported. 100 items were excluded from further analysis. These included articles without access to the full
version and items that did not meet the substantive eligibility criteria. Thus, 25 items were finally selected for
synthesis. Diagram 1 illustrates the stages of the systematic literature review carried out.
IDENTIFICATION

Records identified through Duplicates removed

database searching EBSCO (k = 6,321)
EBSCO (k = 16,787)
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Title and abstract screened for

SCREENING

eligibility after duplicated removed Records excluded

(k = 10,466) (k = 10,341)

Articles excluded during full‐

text screening
ELIGIBILITY

Full‐text articles assessed for (k = 100)

eligibility Population (k = 63)
(k = 125) Outcome (k = 11)
Exposure (k = 14)
Other reasons (k = 12)
INCLUDED

Studies included in qualitative

synthesis
(k = 25)

Figure 1. PRISMA flowchart. Stages of the systematic literature review.

Figure 1. PRISMA flowchart. Stages of the systematic literature review.

Description of eligible articles

Table 1 provides a description of the review performed, i.e. the 25 studies that
qualified for
DOI: 10.5604/01.3001.0053.9392 assessment. Studies were conducted in the United Vol. 10,(Ehrenreich
States No. 1, 2023,&pp. 42-63
 Dorota Anna Siemieniecka , Jolanta Jarczyńska
Relationship Between Social Media Use and Adolescent Mental Health – a Systematic Review 47
Description of eligible articles

Table 1 provides a description of the review performed, i.e. the 25 studies that qualified for assessment. Studies
were conducted in the United States (Ehrenreich & Underwood 2016; Barry et al., 2017; Riehm et al., 2019),
Australia (Neira & Barber, 2014; Vernon et al., 2017), China (Li et al., 2017; Yan et al., 2017; Wang et al., 2018;
Li et al., 2021), South Korea (Kim, 2017), Malaysia (Naeemi & Tamam, 2017), Thailand (Hanprathet et al.,
2015), Canada (Sampasa-Kanyinga& Lewis, 2015), Turkey (Alpaslan et al., 2016; Ucar et al. 2018; Onat et al.,
2019; Ucar et al., 2020), the United Kingdom (Kelly et al., 2018), Northern Ireland (Best et al., 2014; Best et al.,
2015), Switzerland (Werling et al., 2022), Belgium (Frison &Eggermont, 2016), Serbia (Banjanin et al., 2015)
and Hungary (Meszaros et al., 2020). One study was a comparative study carried out in six European coun-
tries: Greece, Spain, Poland, the Netherlands, Romania and Iceland (Tsitsika et al., 2014). Most of the research
was conducted in a quantitative research strategy, mainly in a cross-sectional survey design. Three studies had
longitudinal designs and one study was in a mixed research orientation. The total sample for the quantitative
survey was 49 193 people, while the mixed survey was 521 people. The age of the study participants ranged
from 12 to 18 years. Most of the studies looked at social media use in general, with a few focusing specifically
on Facebook use. In addition to measuring mental health disorders such as depression, anxiety and mental
stress, some studies analysed confounding variables (e.g. age and gender) and mediating and moderating vari-
ables (e.g. insomnia, ruminations and self-esteem).

Quality assessment

Finally, 25 studies meeting the eligibility criteria were selected for the analyses and were subjected to a review-
specific qualitative assessment using the so-called Weight of Evidence (WoE) framework (Gough, 2007). Each
research report was rated on a scale of 1 to 3, where 1 indicates poor quality, 2 satisfactory and 3 good. Three
criteria were considered for evaluation. The following was assessed: (1) the overall quality and execution of

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the study, e.g. information on how the group was selected for the study; (2) the measurement and analysis of
the results obtained relating to the variables studied related to adolescent mental health; (c) the measurement
and analysis of adolescents’ involvement in social media use. The overall average score that could be assigned
to each of the projects assessed ranged from 1 to 3 (see Tab. 1).

Analyses and Results

Analysis of the 25 studies reviewed led to the identification of three main domains related to social media use:
(1) adolescents’ activity related to their use, by which is meant the daily time devoted to their use;
(2) type of involvement in social media use, e.g. active creation of numerous profiles on social networks,
posting selfie photos, writing posts, communicating with peers vs. passive (mainly observing material
published by others);
(3) the way they are used, i.e. normative vs. problematic symptoms of addiction to them.
Each domain is discussed in terms of analysing its relationship to mental health, both to mental health disor-
ders (depression, anxiety disorders, mental suffering, self-harm, eating disorders, internalising disorders) and
to well-being.The research was also intended to answer the question: Is there a relationship between adoles-
cents’ engagement in social media use and their mental health and what is this relationship?
The literature review showed that identifying a clear link between young people’s involvement in social
media use and their mental health is difficult. There is a diversity of results in studies that do not always con-
firm the presence of such a relationship. Where a relationship exists, its direction and strength can vary. Some
studies show positive correlations between social media use and adolescent mental health, while other studies
show negative correlations ranging from weak to strong.

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 This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0)

Table 1. Studies included in the review broken down by mental health condition
48

Date Sample
No Reference Country Type studies – design Findings Rate
published – size and characteristics

1. Neira & Barber 2014 Australia Quantitative studies N=1,819 Meaningful relationship between SM use frequency & 3
Aged: self-esteem & depressed mood.
Cross-sectional 13–17

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(55% female)

2. Best, 2014 Northern Quantitative studies N=527 Young males who reported speaking to online friends 3
Manktelow & Ireland Aged: 14–16 regarding personal problems recorded statistically higher
Taylor Cross-sectional levels of mental well-being (p<0.02).
(100% male)

3. Tsitsika et al. 2014 Six European Quantitative studies N=10,930 Aged: 14–17 Positive association between heavier SM use (more than 2
countries: 2 h/day) and internalising problems (anxiety and
Greece, Spain, Cross-sectional (52.3% female) depression).
Poland,
the
Netherlands,
Romania, and
Iceland.

4. Banjanin et al. 2015 Serbia Quantitative studies N=336 Internet use and level of internet addiction measured 1
Dorota Anna Siemieniecka , Jolanta Jarczyńska

Mean age = 18 years with IAT scale are positivelycorrelated with depressive
Cross-sectional symptoms. No such relationship existed between the
(66% female) time spent on socialnetworking sites and depression, as
well asbetween depression symptoms and SNS-related
activitiessuch as the number of Facebook friends.
Neither the time spent on SNSs nor SNS-related activities
hadsignificant effect on the observed relationship between
Relationship Between Social Media Use and Adolescent Mental Health – a Systematic Review

level of internet addiction anddepression.

5. Hanprathet 2015 Thailand Quantitative studies N=832 Positive association between Facebook addiction and 2
et al. Mean age = 16.7 years depression.
Cross-sectional
(63.5% female)

Vol. 10, No. 1, 2023, pp. 42-63

 Date Sample
No Reference Country Type studies – design Findings Rate
published – size and characteristics

6. Sampasa- 2015 Canada Quantitative studies N=753 The use of SNSs more than 2 hours per day was related to 3
Kanyinga & Mean age = 14.1 years increased level of psychological distress.
Lewis Cross-sectional (48.5% female)

7. Best, 2015 Northern Mixed method studies N=521 (ON) N=8 (QL) A positive relationship was found between the number of 2

DOI: 10.5604/01.3001.0053.9392
Manktelow & Ireland Aged: 14-15 online friends and well-being score.
Taylor
(100% male)

8. Frison & 2016 Belgium Quantitative studies N=910 Positive correlation between passive FB use and depressed 2
Eggermont Mean age = 15.44 years mood as well as between active FB use and depressed mood.
Cross-sectional Perceived online social support mediated this relationship;
(51.9% female) and gender influenced this association.

9. Alpaslan, 2016 Turkey Quantitative studies N=120 PIU was higher in adolescents with MDD and hopelessness 3
Soylu, Kocak, was more prevalent among MDD patients with PIU, but no
and Guzel Cross-sectional Mean age = 15 years links with potential suicide were found.

(62.5% girls) and

N=100 controls Mean
age = 15 years
(58% girls)
Dorota Anna Siemieniecka , Jolanta Jarczyńska

10. Naeemi & 2017 Malaysia Quantitative studies N=401 Emotional dependence on Facebook negatively affected 3
Tamam Aged:13–16 adolescents’ overall psychological wellbeing.
Cross-sectional
(48% female)
Relationship Between Social Media Use and Adolescent Mental Health – a Systematic Review

Vol. 10, No. 1, 2023, pp. 42-63

49

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 This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0)

50
Date Sample
No Reference Country Type studies – design Findings Rate
published – size and characteristics

11. Ehrenreich & 2016 USA Quantitative studies N=125, Relations between internalising symptoms and Facebook 3
Underwood Aged: 18 communication differed for girls and boys. For girls,
Cross-sectional (n=56 female) internalising symptoms predicted several types of Facebook
content: negative affect, somatic complaints and eliciting
support. In contrast, internalising symptoms were not

DOI: 10.5604/01.3001.0053.9392
related to boys’ Facebook posts. Relations between
internalising symptoms and peers’ responses on Facebook
also differed by gender. For girls, internalising symptoms
positively predicted receiving more peer comments
expressing negative affect, and peer responses offering
support. For boys, internalising symptoms did not predict
any of the measured peer responses.

12. Barry, Sidoti, 2017 USA Quantitative studies N=226 SM activity(of accounts,frequency of checking)was 1
Briggs, Reiter, (113 moderately, positivelycorrelated with anxietyand depression
and Lindsey Cross-sectional adolescent-parent asreported by parents.
dyads),
Aged 14–17

(N=51 female)
(N=55 (males)
(N = 7 did not report
gender)
Dorota Anna Siemieniecka , Jolanta Jarczyńska

13. Li et al. 2017 China Quantitative studies N=1,015 Significant association between SM addiction and 2
depression and insomnia partially mediated thisrelationship
Cross-sectional Grade 7th-9th
(41.2% female)
Relationship Between Social Media Use and Adolescent Mental Health – a Systematic Review

14. Vernon et al. 2017 Australia Quantitative studies N=874 Increased investment in SM predicted higher depressed 2
Mean age = 14.4 years mood in adolescents, which was explained by the impact of
higher levels of sleep disruptions.
longitudinal cohort (59% female)
study

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 Date Sample
No Reference Country Type studies – design Findings Rate
published – size and characteristics

15. Yan et al. 2017 China Quantitative studies N=2,625 Positive association between time spent on SM and the level 1
Aged: 13–18 of anxiety. More than 2 hours/day and &anxiety level.
Cross-sectional
(46.9% female)

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16. Kim 2017 South Korea Quantitative studies N=2,099 Strong & negative relationship between online activities and 3
Aged: 12–15 self-reported mental health. Online social networking is
Cross-sectional adversely related to the self-reported wellbeing.

17. Wang et al. 2018 China Quantitative studies N=365 SM addiction and depression were positively associated. 1
Aged: 14–18 Rumination mediated this relationship and self-esteem
Cross-sectional moderated this mediation
(52% female)

18. Ucar et al. 2018 Turkey Quantitative studies N=273 The perceived value of SNSs explained an additional 3
Aged: 12–18 37.8% of variation in symptom sharing on SNSs above and
Cross-sectional beyond the control variables, which are gender, age, type of
disorder, and amount of internet and SNS use. The findings
suggested that adolescents share symptoms on SNSs only
if they attribute value to the SNSs that they use. We also
found that 72% of adolescents in our sample shared their
symptoms on SNSs.
Dorota Anna Siemieniecka , Jolanta Jarczyńska
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51

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 This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0)

52
Date Sample
No Reference Country Type studies – design Findings Rate
published – size and characteristics

19. Kelly et al. 2018 United Quantitative studies N=10.904 The magnitude of association between social media use 3
Kingdom Mean age = and depressive symptoms was larger for girls than for
longitudinal cohort 14.3 years boys. Compared with 1-3 h of daily use: 3 to b5 h 26%
study (N=5496 female) increase in scores vs 21%; ≥5 h 50% vs 35% for girls and
(N=5408 males) boys respectively. Greater social media use related to

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online harassment, poor sleep, low self-esteem and poor
body image; in turn these related to higher depressive
symptom scores. Multiple potential intervening pathways
were apparent, for example: greater hours social media
use related to body weight dissatisfaction (≥5 h 31% more
likely to be dissatisfied), which in turn linked to depressive
symptom scores directly (body dissatisfaction 15% higher
depressive symptom scores) and indirectly via self-esteem.

20. Onat, Ozyurt, 2019 Turkey Quantitative studies N=97 It was determined that the total scores of BIS-11 scale, 2
Ozturk, and Aged:12–18 PSQI and IAT were statistically and significantly higher in
Akay the depression group than controls. In addition, a positive
cross-sectional study (N=73 female) correlation was found between IAT and BIS-11 score and
with a control group (N=24 male) between IAT and PSQI. A positive correlation was also
mean age 14.70±1.48) found between BIS-11 and PSQI.
Dorota Anna Siemieniecka , Jolanta Jarczyńska
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 Date Sample
No Reference Country Type studies – design Findings Rate
published – size and characteristics

21. Riehm et al. 2019 USA Quantitative studies N=6,595 Aged: 12–15 Adolescents who spend more than 3 hours per day using 3
social media may be at heightened risk for mental health
longitudinal cohort During wave 1; N=3400 problems, particularly internalizing problems.
study (51.3% male) A total of 6595 adolescents (aged 12–15 years during wave
1; 3400 [51.3%] male) were studied. In unadjusted analyses,

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From waves 1 spending more than 30 minutes of time on social media,
(September 12, 2013, to compared with no use, was associated with increased risk of
December 14, 2014), 2 internalising problems alone (30 minutes: relative risk ratio
(October 23, 2014, to [RRR], 1.30; 95% CI, 0.94-1.78; >30 minutes to 3 hours:
October 30, 2015), and RRR, 1.89; 95% CI, 1.36-2.64; >3 to 6 hours: RRR, 2.47;
3 (October 18, 2015, to 95% CI, 1.74-3.49; >6 hours: RRR, 2.83; 95% CI, 1.88-4.26)
October 23, 2016) and comorbid internalising and externalizing problems
Data analysis was (30 minutes: RRR, 1.39; 95% CI, 1.06-1.82; >30 minutes
performed from to 3 hours: RRR, 2.34; 95% CI, 1.83-3.00; >3 to 6 hours:
January 14, 2019, to RRR, 3.15; 95% CI, 2.43-4.09; >6 hours: RRR, 4.29; 95% CI,
May 22, 2019. 3.22-5.73); associations with externalizing problems were
inconsistent. In adjusted analyses, use of social media for
more than 3 hours per day compared with no use remained
significantly associated with internalising problems alone
(>3 to 6 hours: RRR, 1.60; 95% CI, 1.11-2.31; >6 hours:
RRR, 1.78; 95% CI, 1.15-2.77) and comorbid internalising
and externalizing problems (>3 to 6 hours: RRR, 2.01; 95%
CI, 1.51-2.66; >6 hours: RRR, 2.44; 95% CI, 1.73-3.43) but
not externalizing problems alone.
Dorota Anna Siemieniecka , Jolanta Jarczyńska

22. Ucar et al. 2020 Turkey Quantitative studies N=273 The perceived value of SNSs explained an additional 3
Aged: 12–18 37.8% of variation in symptom sharing on SNSs above
semi-structured and beyondthe control variables, which are gender, age,
interviews (N=132 type of disorder, and amount of internet and SNSuse. The
female) findingssuggested that adolescents sharesymptoms on
Relationship Between Social Media Use and Adolescent Mental Health – a Systematic Review

(N=92 male) SNSsonly if they attribute value to the SNSs that they use.
72% of adolescents in the sample shared their symptoms on
SNSs.

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53

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 This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0)

54
Date Sample
No Reference Country Type studies – design Findings Rate
published – size and characteristics

23. Meszaros et al. 2020 Hungary Quantitative studies N=363 High NSSI frequency (39.9%-71% of them were girls) in 3
Mean age: 15.12 years the sample. NSSI was significantly more frequent among
Cohort study those who showedthreshold symptoms onSDQ than in
(N=183 female) the subthreshold group [H(3) = 53.293, p <.001]. In the
(N=145 male) NSSI frequency, therewas also a significant difference

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between ‘normal’ internet users and both ‘maladaptive’ and
‘pathological’ internet users [H(2) = 10.039, p <.05
p = .007]. According to the mediatormodels,
the relationship between PIU and NSSI is not
a direct association; it is mediated by allexamined
psychopathological factors (M.I.N.I. kid diagnoses) except
for obsessivecompulsive disorder (OCD), alcohol abuse
and dependence, and adjustment disorder. Conclusions:
We found a high frequency of NSSI. PIU in itself is not
a risk factor for NSSI but might become a risk factor in the
presence of comorbid psychiatric disorders.

24. Li et al. 2021 China Quantitative studies N=6,553 secondary school Of the total, 14.4% (946/6553) were classified as addicted 2
students Internet users (YDQ ≥5). The risk of IA was higher among
Cross-sectional students of older age (OR=1.17) and with poorer subjective
sleep quality (OR=1.27-2.56). Urban household registration
(OR=0.80), high level of physical activity (OR=0.68), 1-2
hours of outdoor activity per day (OR=0.69), long sleep
Dorota Anna Siemieniecka , Jolanta Jarczyńska

duration (OR=0.60), and normal sleep duration (OR=0.74)

were protective factors of IA. Age, household registration,
outdoor activity time, level of physical activity, subjective
sleep quality, and sleep duration were the key factors
affecting IA.
Relationship Between Social Media Use and Adolescent Mental Health – a Systematic Review

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 Date Sample
No Reference Country Type studies – design Findings Rate
published – size and characteristics

25. Werling, 2022 Switzerland Quantitative studies N=178 Patients with ID reported higher emotional distress 2
Walitza, Aged: 12–18 during the lockdown, and a larger number of patients with
Gerstenberg, Cross-sectional ID indicated a deterioration of pre-existing symptoms
Grunblatt, and compared to non-ID patients. Although more patients with
Drechsler ID than with non-ID indicated spending a large amount

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of time on social media, social media time per day in
hours was not significantly higher in ID. Patients with ID
indicated a higher impact of media use on well-being and
mood in everyday life during the lockdown. Social media
time was higher in worsened than in improved non-ID
patients, while the opposite was found in ID patients,
indicating a possible protective effect of media use at least
for some ID patients. The results confirm positive as well
as negative associations between mental health, emotional
well-being and media use for adolescents with ID during
the lockdown.
Dorota Anna Siemieniecka , Jolanta Jarczyńska
Relationship Between Social Media Use and Adolescent Mental Health – a Systematic Review

Vol. 10, No. 1, 2023, pp. 42-63

55

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 Dorota Anna Siemieniecka , Jolanta Jarczyńska
56 Relationship Between Social Media Use and Adolescent Mental Health – a Systematic Review

Adolescent Activity Related to Social Media Use: Time Spent Using Social Media

The review of studies did not provide conclusive data on the relationship between time spent on social media
and mental health problems in adolescents aged 13–18 years. The results of a study with a sample of 10,930
adolescents from six European countries (Tsitsika et al., 2014) indicated a positive association between heavy
social media use and depression and anxiety. This study found that spending more than two hours per day
using social media was associated with internalising problems in young people, such as depression and anxi-
ety disorders. The researchers analysed this relationship in terms of the age of the adolescents studied. They
found that internalising symptoms (anxiety and depression) were more frequently experienced by younger
adolescents using social media for more than two hours a day compared to older adolescents using them in
the same way. In contrast, research conducted on a population of US adolescents (N=6,595) shows that the
risk of developing mental health problems related to internalising disorders increases when the threshold for
daily social media use is 3 hours (Riehm et al., 2019). The same result was obtained in a study of Turkish ado-
lescents (N=97) (Onat et al., 2019). They found that spending three hours or more per day on social media use
was associated with an increase in internalising problems, including depression. A study of a sample of 2,625
Chinese adolescents (Yan et al., 2017), on the other hand, found that spending 2 hours a day on social media
use promotes anxiety disorders in adolescents.
A Canadian study, admittedly conducted on a smaller sample of young people (N=753), yielded similar
results (Sampasa-Kanyinga& Lewis, 2015). It was found that using social media for more than two hours a day
or more positively correlates with adolescent psychological distress. A study conducted on a sample of South
Korean youth (N=2,099) found a strong negative association between active Facebook use and lowered mood
(Kim, 2017). A longitudinal study conducted in the UK (N=10,904) found that social media use for 5 hours
or more per day was associated in adolescents with a greater likelihood of body weight dissatisfaction, which
in turn directly promoted increased depressive symptoms and indirectly also lower self-esteem (Kelly et al.,
2018). A study conducted on a sample of Australian adolescents (N=1,819) confirmed a positive association
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between time spent using social media and lowered mood and low self-esteem (Neira & Barber, 2014). In
contrast, the results of a study by Serbian researchers (Banjanin et al., 2015) yielded yet different results. It
turned out that in the group of adolescents surveyed (N=336), no association was established between time
spent using social networking sites and depression.

Adolescent Activity Related to Social Media Use. Type of Engagement: Active vs. Passive

A review of the research yielded conflicting results on the relationship between the activity undertaken by
adolescents on social media and their disclosed mental health problems. A Belgian study of a sample of 910
teenagers found that there were no statistically significant differences between how they used Facebook.
A positive correlation between Facebook use and lowered mood was noted in both actively and passively
using adolescents (Frison &Eggermont, 2016). In a US study led by Barry et al. (2017), which examined 113
adolescent-parent diads (N=226) using data from parents of adolescents aged 14–17 years, found a positive
correlation between activity undertaken by adolescents on social media (i.e. number of accounts held, fre-
quency of checking notifications) and depression and anxiety. Analysis of this relationship in terms of the
gender share of the adolescents surveyed showed no statistically significant variation.
The results of a study by Serbian researchers (Banjanin et al., 2015), on the other hand, indicate the
absence of such a relationship. They found no statistically significant correlation between social media
activity undertaken by secondary school students (N=336) (i.e. the number of selfies published) and
depression. Research by Australian researchers (Neira & Barber, 2014; Vernon et al., 2017) using sec-
ondary data from the Youth Activity programme found that increased engagement in social media use
by young people increases their risk of lowering their mood. In a study by Neira and Barber (2014), it
was found that female adolescents’ greater involvement in social media activities promotes feelings of
depressed mood and worsens their self-esteem, whereas such media use represents a positive leisure
activity for male adolescents. Vernon et al. (2017) conducting a study with a sample of 874 adoles-
cents showed that a mediating variable accompanying this relationship is sleep problems.In contrast,
two studies in Northern Ireland showed that the type of social media activity undertaken can promote

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 Dorota Anna Siemieniecka , Jolanta Jarczyńska
Relationship Between Social Media Use and Adolescent Mental Health – a Systematic Review 57
adolescents’ mental well-being. The study by Best et al. (2014) on a sample of 527 male adolescents aged
14–17 found that engaging in an activity such as using social media to talk to friends about personal
problems was statistically significantly associated with higher levels of psychological well-being. And
another study by these researchers published in 2015 showed that there is a positive correlation between
adolescents’ psychological well-being and the number of social media friends they have.
A study by American researchers (Ehhrenreich& Underwood, 2016) provided interesting results.
They show that the associations between Facebook communication and internalising symptoms are dif-
ferent for the female and male sexes. The increase in internalising disorders for girls was related to
the content available on Facebook and the reactions of peers to the content they posted, as well as the
responses they received offering them support. Receiving more comments with clear negative emotional
colouring was associated with an increase in internalising disorders in girls, while no such relationship
was noted in boys. Furthermore, for girls, it was noted that internalising disorders positively correlated
with receiving messages from peers on social media in which they offered their help. The researchers
comment that girls are possibly more likely to exhibit internalising disorders (depression and anxiety) by
using Facebook in a way similar to co-rumination, i.e. by sharing their problems with a friend on Face-
book, they are likely to receive reinforcing feedback in return, which exacerbates the risk of developing
internalising disorders.

Social Media Use: Normative vs. Problematic

The research reports analysed also yield conflicting information on the relationship between adoles-
cents’ social media use and their mental health. A study in Thailand with a sample of 832 adolescents
confirmed a statistically significant association between Facebook addiction and adolescent depression
(Hanprathet et al., 2015). Similar results were obtained in a Turkish study (Alpaslan et al., 2016). They
found that problematic social media use was higher in adolescents with major depressive disorder, who

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were more likely to have feelings of hopelessness. However, a link to a potential suicide has not been con-
firmed. A Malaysian study on Facebook addiction conducted among pupils aged 13–16 years (N=401)
found an association with generally poorer mental health among adolescents (Naeemi & Taman, 2017).
A Chinese study (Li et al., 2017) among high school students (N=1,015) confirmed the presence of
a statistically significant association between social media addiction and depression. It was detected that
insomnia was a mediating factor.
Another study conducted in China (Wang et al., 2018) on a sample of 365 adolescents aged 14–18 found
a positive correlation between social media addiction and depression. Ruminations were a mediating vari-
able in this relationship, and self-esteem moderated this mediating effect such that low self-esteem exacer-
bated depression through ruminations. A Turkish study (Onat et al., 2019) found that there is a statistically
significant positive association between social media addiction and depression. In addition, variable sleep
problems were measured in the study. A positive correlation was also found between poor sleep quality and
problematic social media use. In contrast, the results of a Swiss study conducted to assess the impact of the
COVID-19 pandemic on the psychological well-being of adolescents aged 12–18 in the first six weeks of
the pandemic showed that adolescents presenting higher levels of internalising disorders (depression and
anxiety disorders) indicated a greater impact of social media on their psychological well-being and mood
in daily life during the lockdown period. The results of this study confirmed both positive and negative
associations between mental health, emotional well-being and social media use among young people with
internalising disorders during lockdown.

Discussion and Limitations

The systematic review of research was conducted to establish the state of knowledge on the prevalence
of the association between social media use and mental health problems in adolescents. Although the
results of the 25 studies analysed are inconsistent with each other, the research review presented here
allows us to conclude that it is difficult to make a definite statement about the existence of an associa-
tion between social media use and mental health problems in adolescents, and if there is an association,

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 Dorota Anna Siemieniecka , Jolanta Jarczyńska
58 Relationship Between Social Media Use and Adolescent Mental Health – a Systematic Review

we can rather speak of its weak strength. Most of the authors of the studies who reported on the occur-
rence of interdependence between the study variables indicated that it was too complex to be formulated
explicitly.
A major limitation that sheds light on the study results obtained is that the vast majority of the studies (22
out of 25 studies) were cross-sectional studies and only three were longitudinal studies (Vernon et al., 2017;
Kelly et al., 2018 and Riehm et al., 2019). Because of this, only co-occurring problems and not a cause-and-
effect relationship can be identified. It is therefore not possible to determine whether adolescents’ use of social
media causes mental health disorders (e.g. mood disorders, anxiety disorders), or whether it is the presence
of such mental health problems that causes their increased and problematic use of social media.Among the
studies were those whose results indicated that the risk of developing mental health problems in adolescents
(mood and anxiety disorders) occurs when the threshold for daily use time of 2 hours is met (Sampasa-Kany-
inga& Lewis, 2015; Yan et al., 2017) or 3 (Riehm et al., 2019; Onat et al., 2019), or even 5 or more hours (Kelly
et al., 2018) and those that argued that the daily time of social media use by adolescents is not associated with
co-occurring mental health problems (Banjanin et al., 2015).
Another limitation observed in most of the studies analysed was the small sample size and the way in
which the sample was selected, which limited its representativeness and at the same time did not allow the
conclusions to be generalised to a larger population of adolescents.
Finally, few of the studies analysed were designed to be able to explore the contribution of mediat-
ing and moderating variables to the relationship between the activity of adolescent on social networks
and their mental health status. For example, studies that considered the contribution of mediating and
moderating factors, e.g. insomnia and ruminations, were those by Li et al. (2017), Vernon et al. (2017)
and Kelly et al. (2018). Knowing that the analysed relationship between social media and mental health
problems is complex, further research should be conducted to clarify the underlying factors that will help
determine the contribution of social media to adolescent mental health. At the same time, this popula-
tion is not a homogeneous group, which means that some of them may be positively influenced by social
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media (cf. Jarczyńska, 2022), while other negatively (cf. Jarczyńska, 2016), and for some it may remain
irrelevant to their mental health.
From the review, it appears that findings on the role of gender and age in assessing the association between
adolescents’ social media use and their experience of mental health problems also remain unclear. It has been
established that there are studies that have confirmed that these variables differentiate this relationship, e.g.
studies by Ehhrenreich and Underwood (2016), Neira and Barber (2014), and those that do not, e.g. Barry
et al. (2017). It therefore seems reasonable to conduct further research to establish the relevance of age and
gender to the relationship analysed.
Another limitation identified was that some studies only looked at the use of Facebook compared to other
social networks, which also causes significant bias and limits the generalisability of the results to other social
networks (e.g. those that are much more popular among young people today, such as TikTok and Instagram).
Another limitation of the research is the procedure used for most of the questionnaire surveys analysed,
which was self-reporting in nature. It is apparent that this method is characterised by imperfections. It bears
the risk that the respondents’ answers to the questionnaire may have been distorted by confounding variables
such as, for example, fear of evaluation or their subjective interpretation of the degrees of response on the
measurement scales. The risk of adolescents giving inaccurate data may also have been caused by a mecha-
nism well known in questionnaire studies related to the need for social approval. For this reason, respondents
may have wanted to demonstrate positive self-presentation by over- or under-reporting their social media use
and reporting symptoms of mental health disorders.

Conclusions
The review of the 25 research projects carried out allows the conclusion to be drawn that there was no clear
linear, strong and positive relationship between adolescents’ social media use and the occurrence of mental
health problems. Rather, it can be said to be weak and, in the case of some research reports, even reversed
(negative). As Moreno and Joliff (2022) write, investigating the relationship between social media and young
people’s mental health is a difficult area of research, and this was confirmed by the research review. The
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 Dorota Anna Siemieniecka , Jolanta Jarczyńska
Relationship Between Social Media Use and Adolescent Mental Health – a Systematic Review 59
aforementioned researchers indicate that these difficulties are due to several reasons. Firstly, mental health
disorders and their symptoms, like the symptoms of other illnesses, are sometimes difficult to grasp at a spe-
cific time. Sometimes it is possible to observe their intensity, sometimes not, as they may be latent. It is there-
fore crucial to measure them properly, using tools to identify them that will result in an accurate diagnosis of
mental health disorders. However, it should be borne in mind that a distorting factor in assessing the mental
health status of young people may be the developmental age itself, which promotes inadequate recognition of
mental health problems. Secondly, the use of the right instrumentation to measure the use of social media by
young people plays an important role. To date, most of the research conducted in this area has tended to focus
on the evaluation of young people’s social media use time, which is assessed in terms of hours and minutes.
Furthermore, this time is measured in a self-reported manner, i.e. based on respondent-reported estimates,
which are often inaccurate (Moreno et al., 2012).
Another procedure used in research to assess adolescents’ engagement with social media use is pas-
sive observation, which involves the research participant downloading a phone app that monitors their
ongoing media activity (Messner et al., 2019). Unfortunately, this measurement tends to record time
spent on a single device, and it is known that young people use numerous devices simultaneously to
participate in social media. Hence, it is recommended that future research should focus on other aspects
of adolescents’ experiences of new media, such as assessing their quality and meaning, which result in
a strong attachment to them. An interesting proposal seems to be the recently developed survey tool
Adolescents’ Digital Technology Interactions and Importance Scale (Moreno et al., 2020), which allows
for such a measurement. It is therefore worth using this tool in future research, as a review of the research
done clearly showed that this approach to assessing the relationship between social media and adolescent
mental health is not very common. Thirdly, much of the research on evaluating these relationships does
not focus on assessing the normative use of social media. Most of the research in this area is concerned
with problematic, non-adaptive use. The result of such research is the development of conclusions and
further recommendations that are unjustifiably directed at the general population of adolescents, who,

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after all, use the media in a variety of ways (harmful vs. harmless).
It is hoped that the systematic review of research presented in this text has contributed to filling the gap
in knowledge about the relationship between adolescents’ social media use and the incidence of mental health
problems. On the basis of the analyses presented, it can be concluded that this area requires further and in-
depth research.

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