According to the findings of a new study by the universities of Ghent and Antwerp, there is currently insufficient scientific evidence to conclude that social media is harmful to youngsters’ mental wellbeing.
Study finds insufficient scientific evidence that social media harm teenagers’ mental health
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The lead author of the study, the Ghent University (UGent) professor of clinical psychologist Ernst Koster told VRT News that "There are just as many studies that report negative effects, positive effects or no effects at all”.
The researchers looked at around 40 recent studies into the effects of social media use among adolescents and found the results to be highly mixed. No clear causal relationship could be established between social media use and teenagers’ mental wellbeing.
Insufficient to assess long-term impact
The study says that much existing research into the impact of social media covers just a few days or at most a week. It is argued that this is insufficient to assess long-term effects.
"There’s also a tendency to assume a purely negative impact when, in reality, the effect is often very limited or even absent altogether. That’s why we’ve also included recommendations for how future research could be improved", Professor Koster said.
Vagueness
The authors of the study say that another major issue is vagueness when it comes to defining what social media use actually entails. "It’s often unclear which platforms, devices, features, interactions or types of content are being studied and how these are measured," Professor Koster explained.
The study concludes that the idea that social media is the main cause of mental health problems among adolescents does not stand up to scrutiny. However, "This does not mean that problematic effects do not exist on an individual level. For example, if someone is feeling vulnerable about their self-image and they’re constantly confronted with friends’ holiday photos, that could make them feel worse", Professor Koster said.
External or contextual factors that may influence emotional well-being are rarely accounted for in current research.
The research team conducted its own study in which it limited the social media use of one group of participants while leaving another group's use unrestricted. After one month, they found no significant difference in mental wellbeing between the two groups.
The full study can be found of the site of the scientific journal Nature