ArticleJournal of adolescence2023
Which social media platforms matter and for whom? Examining moderators of links between adolescents' social media use and depressive symptoms.
Article in Journal of adolescence, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
11 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 21 citations in OpenAlex.
- Scrolling through adolescence: a systematic review of the impact of TikTok on adolescent mental health.European child & adolescent psychiatry · 2025Pooled it
- Navigating the Algorithm: A Narrative Review of Social Media's Impact on Mental Health in Clinical and Non-Clinical Adolescent Populations.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Intimate disclosure in online-only friendships predicts adolescents' depressive symptoms.Journal of research on adolescence : the official journal of the Society for Research on Adolescence · 2026Article
- Behaviour patterns on social media and their associations with cognitive, social and emotional skills in university students.BMC psychology · 2026Article
- Adverse Childhood Experiences and Problematic Social Media Use: Longitudinal Evidence Among Chinese Adolescents.Journal of adolescence · 2026Article
- Technology Addiction: Effects of Electronic Games and Social Media Use on Academic Performance and Symptoms of Psychiatric Disorders Among School-Age Adolescents.Health science reports · 2025Article
- Association Between TikTok Use and Anxiety, Depression, and Sleepiness Among Adolescents: A Cross-Sectional Study in Greece.Pediatric reports · 2025Article
- Adolescent Social Media Use and Depression: A Person-Centered Approach.Child psychiatry and human development · 2025Article
- Article
- Personal values clusters and their associations to social media behaviors and psychological well-being.BMC psychology · 2024Article
- Problematic Social Media Use Among Italian Midadolescents: Protocol and Rationale of the SMART Project.JMIR research protocols · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
introductionDespite extensive research on social media and risks for mental health, not enough is known about individual differences in these risks.
methodsThe present study, with data collected from 2018 to 2020, investigated the association between social media use (total and for specific platforms) and depressive symptoms in a sample of 237 American adolescents (M
resultsResults indicated that greater total time spent on social media was associated with higher levels of depressive symptoms. This effect held for Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube (but not Snapchat, Facebook, or Twitter). Several moderated effects were found. Twitter was associated with more depressive symptoms for girls but not boys. More frequent Instagram use was linked to more depressive symptoms for less or average-level extraverted teens but not for more extraverted teens, suggesting extraversion may be protective. More frequent TikTok use was associated with more depressive symptoms, particularly for teens who said they have more or average-level negative reactions to social media a year earlier.
conclusionsThis study suggests that certain adolescents may be at increased risk for serious mental health challenges, like elevated depressive symptoms, when using TikTok, Instagram, or Twitter more frequently, underscoring the importance of examining individual differences and particular social media platforms.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.