Observational studyPloS one2024
Cohort profile: The Social media, smartphone use and Self-harm in Young People (3S-YP) study-A prospective, observational cohort study of young people in contact with mental health services.
Observational study in PloS one, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT04601220 (Social Media, Smartphone Use and Self-harm in Young People), which is not on this map. Cited by 6 papers.
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.
Social Media, Smartphone Use and Self-harm in Young People
Who cites it
6 citing papers in PubMed.
- Virtual Dementia in the Digital Age: Neurocognitive Mechanisms, Behavioural Impact and Public Health Implications of Technology Overuse.Annals of neurosciences · 2026Review
- Associational pathway analyses of depression and impulsivity in the relationship between internet addiction and non-suicidal self-injury among adolescents: a cross-sectional case-control study.Annals of general psychiatry · 2026Article
- Observational
- Sentiment trajectory modeling in mental health discussions via transformer-based analysis.Frontiers in artificial intelligence · 2026Article
- Stress, pain intensity, and work productivity in individuals with chronic pain: a cross-sectional observational study.BMC public health · 2025Observational
- Factors that affect clinical youth engagement in digital mental health research: a qualitative sub-study nested within a prospective cohort study.BMC medical research methodology · 2025Observational
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
12 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectivesThe Social media, Smartphone use and Self-Harm (3S-YP) study is a prospective observational cohort study to investigate the mechanisms underpinning associations between social media and smartphone use and self-harm in a clinical youth sample. We present here a comprehensive description of the cohort from baseline data and an overview of data available from baseline and follow-up assessments.
methodsYoung people aged 13-25 years were recruited from a mental health trust in England and followed up for 6 months. Self-report data was collected at baseline and monthly during follow-up and linked with electronic health records (EHR) and user-generated data.
findingsA total of 362 young people enrolled and provided baseline questionnaire data. Most participants had a history of self-harm according to clinical (n = 295, 81.5%) and broader definitions (n = 296, 81.8%). At baseline, there were high levels of current moderate/severe anxiety (n = 244; 67.4%), depression (n = 255; 70.4%) and sleep disturbance (n = 171; 47.2%). Over half used social media and smartphones after midnight on weekdays (n = 197, 54.4%; n = 215, 59.4%) and weekends (n = 241, 66.6%; n = 263, 72.7%), and half met the cut-off for problematic smartphone use (n = 177; 48.9%). Of the cohort, we have questionnaire data at month 6 from 230 (63.5%), EHR data from 345 (95.3%), social media data from 110 (30.4%) and smartphone data from 48 (13.3%).
conclusionThe 3S-YP study is the first prospective study with a clinical youth sample, for whom to investigate the impact of digital technology on youth mental health using novel data linkages. Baseline findings indicate self-harm, anxiety, depression, sleep disturbance and digital technology overuse are prevalent among clinical youth. Future analyses will explore associations between outcomes and exposures over time and compare self-report with user-generated data in this cohort.
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