For teens’ mental health, strong friendships matter more than social media use, study finds

According to a new study, young people who report strong, high quality friendships have better mental health. It is an influence that looks almost three times stronger than the link between social media use and mental health challenges. Appeared I The Journal of Teen Health.

Today’s young people spend a lot of time online. This has raised concerns how digital interactions affect the welfare of adolescents. Since the use of social media has increased, some are surprised whether it is playing its role in the height of teenage health challenges. Such concerns forced the US Surgeon General to issue warning about the potential impact of social media on the mental health of youth in 2023.

“Social media is not used in space,” said Blackwell, a PhD of the Fanberg School of Medicine at North Western University, said it is a piece of a huge picture. ” “Our studies have shown that when it comes to young mental health results, peer relationships are more important than social media.”

In the study, researchers found that young people with strong, supportive friendship face potential mental health, regardless of how much time they spend on social media. On the contrary, young people who report poor quality friendship and the same level of use near social media are more likely to report poor health health. In contrast, the amount of time spending on social media uses has little effect on teen mental health results.

Young people between the ages of 13 to 18 say how much time they spend on social media and whether they actively use it (such as posting and commenting) or passively (such as scroll and browsing). Researchers used promotial diagnostic tools and questionnaires of strength and difficulties to measure their mental fitness, including the satisfaction of life, the feeling of purpose, the symptoms of sadness, and the quality of their friendship.

The eighth and 10th Grader’s 2021 National Survey, which is cited US Surgeon General’s Social Media and Youth Mental Health ReportIt is learned that the youth spent an average of 3.5 3.5 hours a day on social media. Recently, a 2023 gallup survey Children between the ages of 13 to 19 have reported that average increased by 4.8 hours a day.

The study included 963 teenage youth from the age of 13 to 18 years from the United States. The young people completed survey of social media habits, the quality of their relationship and the results of mental health. The results provide insights on how the use of social media and mental health affects one another in the years of adolescents, and also includes negative consequences such as anxiety and depression.

“Instead of focusing on restricting the use of social media only, emphasizing ways to strengthen the quality of social relations, it will help relieve the current mental health crisis in the United States,” said Dr. Blackwell.

Looking forward, the research team plans to use the data collected over time to understand how the use of social media and mental health affects each other in this sensitive development period. Future studies can focus on improving the quality of relationships, which is the path to better mental health results.

Provided by environmental impact on children’s health results