Teenagers who spent more than four hours per day on social media were significantly more likely to report symptoms of poor mental health, according to a new study.
A post-pandemic survey of 4,000 adolescents in Ireland, aged mostly between 15 and 16, found a “strong” association between high social media use or sexting and poorer mental health.
The Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI) University of Medicine and Health Sciences report, published on Wednesday, reported that body dissatisfaction was linked with a worsening of mental health and self-harm, particularly among girls. Dissatisfaction with their bodies was twice as common among girls than boys, with 60 per cent of female respondents reporting this compared to 31 per cent of males.
Aoibhe Smyth, a 19-year-old from Clontarf, Dublin, feels “better off” after giving up social media almost two years ago.
RM Block
While studying for her Leaving Cert, she explained how the pressure was already “enough” without going on to social media and seeing “such negative things”.
She recalled finding it hard to focus on her studies and felt “trapped” seeing people “living their best life” while she had to attend school and study.
Girls reported longer screen time, with 40 per cent of survey participants saying they looked at screens for two to three hours per day and 38 per cent reporting spending more than four hours at a screen. Among the male respondents, 38 per cent reported spending two to three hours on screens, while 21 per cent spent more than four hours.
Sexting was also more common among the female respondents, with 22 per cent saying they consensually sent sexually explicit images of themselves and 28 per cent saying somebody shared a sexually explicit image of them without their permission. For boys asked the same questions, 12 per cent said they sent sexual images and 13 per cent said their sexually explicit image was shared without their consent.
Non-consensual sexting has been linked to negative impacts such as anxiety, depression and suicidal thoughts, the study notes.
On social media, Ms Smyth described seeing negative things such as “thinspo” accounts, short for thinspiration, which promote eating disorders, as well as trends encouraging people to share self-harm images and photos that were edited to “unhealthy beauty standards”.
“You have no control over the algorithm,” she said.
Ms Smyth made the decision to take herself off social media and since then she feels more “motivated” as she has “no distractions and is not comparing” herself.
“Seeing what other people are doing such as influencers and celebrities, it gets depressing. No one’s life is perfect but it’s easy to fall into the trap when it’s on social media.”
Now that she is no longer on social media, she feels that she can see “how bad it is” and has time for “better things such as reading, listening to podcasts and playing sports, things that will benefit me”.
She is now in her second year of Law and Politics at Dublin City University and has been a youth advocate with Jigsaw, a youth mental health charity, since the age of 16.
The authors of the study theorised that the “heightened vulnerability” among girls may be driven by “both content and platform design”.
“Girls are more likely to engage with image-focused platforms like Instagram and TikTok, where idealised portrayals of appearance and lifestyle foster social comparison, which is strongly linked to lower self-esteem and increased depressive symptoms,” the study says.
Mary Cannon, professor of psychiatric epidemiology and youth mental health at RCSI, and the study’s lead author, said the findings highlight how common aspects of a modern teen’s life may be contributing to declining mental health among young people in Ireland, particularly teenage girls.
“We need to take these risk factors seriously and ensure that young people are supported in developing healthy digital habits and emotional resilience,” she said.
The survey data was collected from 4,000 mainly transition-year students from secondary schools, including in an urban area of north Dublin and rural areas in Cavan and Monaghan between October and December 2021.
Meanwhile, at an Oireachtas Committee, children’s groups on Wednesday called for an “independent assessment of risk” rather than a ban on social media.
The Oireachtas Committee on Arts, Media, Communications, Culture and Sport held a hearing on the regulation of online platforms and supports to improve online safety and participation.
Alex Cooney, the co-founder and CEO of CyberSafeKids, said the wording of a ban is “problematic” and described a ban as “a blunt instrument.”
She wants to see “a proper independent assessment of these digital environments for risk”, she said.
“It takes away from the fact that we need very real change within those online environments, just excluding children doesn’t bring the changes we want to see,” she said.
Noeline Blackwell, online safety co-ordinator at Children’s Rights Alliance, said “it’s not companies we should be banning, but the functions”.
She said Ireland can develop “effective ways” of conducting age verification checks.
