‘Little evidence’ social media or gaming is to blame for teenage mental health problems
New study challenges link between social media and mental health
- A major new study from the University of Manchester suggests that social media and video games are unlikely to cause mental health problems in young teenagers.
- Researchers tracked 25,000 pupils aged 11 to 14 over three school years, monitoring their social media use, gaming frequency, and emotional difficulties.
- The study found no evidence that heavier social media use or more frequent gaming directly caused increases in symptoms of anxiety or depression.
- Co-author Professor Neil Humphrey said that young people's technology choices might be influenced by their feelings, rather than technology being the cause of mental health issues.
- The authors stressed that while online experiences are not harmless, focusing solely on screen time misses the broader picture of what young people do online and their support networks.