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Cross-Sectional and Longitudinal Associations of Screen Time with Depression and Anxiety and the Influence of Maladaptive Social Media Use and Gender
30 Pages Posted: 26 Jun 2024
More...Abstract
Background: Engaging with digital devices has been associated with poor mental health in adolescents when examined cross-sectionally. However, findings are mixed when examining the relationship between screen time and subsequent mental health longitudinally. Consequently, little is understood about the direction of the relationship. Furthermore, the influence of social media use and gender on this relationship has not been sufficiently investigated. This study therefore examined the cross-sectional and longitudinal association of screen time with depression and anxiety and considered the potential influence of maladaptive social media use and gender on these associations.
Methods: We analyzed a sample of 4,058 adolescents (mean age = 13·9) recruited from 134 Australian secondary schools as part of the Future Proofing Study, a five-year prospective cohort study of adolescent mental health. Linear mixed models used Time 1 (baseline) and Time 2 (12-month follow-up) data to examine cross-sectional and longitudinal associations of screen time with depression and anxiety, and the influence of maladaptive social media use and gender, categorized as male, female and gender diverse.
Outcomes: Screen time was significantly associated with mental health symptoms cross-sectionally, with each additional hour of screen time corresponding with a 1.25 and 0.79 increase on measures of depression and anxiety, respectively. However, longitudinally, these associations were markedly weaker. Specifically, each additional hour of screen time corresponded with only a 0.15 increase in 12-month depression and showed no significant association with 12-month anxiety. Furthermore, neither gender nor maladaptive social media use had a substantial influence on screen time-symptom associations.
Interpretation: Weak longitudinal compared to cross-sectional associations indicate that high screen time is unlikely to cause depression and anxiety; instead, observed relationships may be bidirectional.
Funding: This research was supported by an NHMRC Investigator Grant awarded to AW-S (1197074) and a partnership between the Black Dog Institute and the Bupa Foundation. AEW was supported by a NHMRC Investigator Grant (2017521). The Future Proofing Study was funded by an NHMRC Grant to HC (1138405).
Declaration of Interest: All authors declare no conflicts of interest.
Ethical Approval: This research complies with the Declaration of Helsinki (2023), aside from the requirement to preregister human subjects research, and received approval from a local ethics board (ID: 424242). Study procedures complied with the Declaration of Helsinki (2023)and were approved by the University New South Wales Human Research Ethics Committee (HC180836), the State Education Research Applications Process for the New South Wales Department of Education (SERAP2019201), and relevant Catholic Schools Dioceses across Australia.
Keywords: screen time, social media, youth mental health, depression, anxiety
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