Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40990209›Full record

ArticleJournal of adolescence2026

Scrolling, Chatting, and Posting: Longitudinal Changes in Distinct Social Media Behaviors and Their Relationship With Psychological Distress and Mental Wellbeing in Adolescents.

S Smout, T Slade, E Hunter, L Thornton, L A Gardner, N C Newton, K E Champion, C Chapman

Abstract read
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In one paragraph

Article in Journal of adolescence, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
3citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

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.

2 · The registry

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.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

3 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Climate change and social health.Nature human behaviour · 2026
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors.

S SmoutThe Matilda Centre for Research in Mental Health and Substance Use, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia.ORCID 0000-0001-5879-442X
T SladeThe Matilda Centre for Research in Mental Health and Substance Use, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia.ORCID 0000-0002-1725-9188
E HunterThe Matilda Centre for Research in Mental Health and Substance Use, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia.ORCID 0000-0001-5495-6962
L ThorntonThe Matilda Centre for Research in Mental Health and Substance Use, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia.ORCID 0000-0001-7705-833X
L A GardnerThe Matilda Centre for Research in Mental Health and Substance Use, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia.ORCID 0000-0002-8592-6691
N C NewtonThe Matilda Centre for Research in Mental Health and Substance Use, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia.ORCID 0000-0001-6305-2623
K E ChampionThe Matilda Centre for Research in Mental Health and Substance Use, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia.ORCID 0000-0001-8319-9366
C ChapmanThe Matilda Centre for Research in Mental Health and Substance Use, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia.ORCID 0000-0002-2460-6862

Funding

The Health4Life study was funded by the Paul Ramsay Foundation and the Australian National Health and Medical Research Council via Fellowships (KC, APP1120641; and NN, APP1166377) and via a Center of Research Excellence in the Prevention and Early Intervention in Mental Illness and Substance Use (PREMISE; APP11349009). KC is funded by a University of Sydney Horizon Fellowship. LG is funded by an NHMRC Investigator Grant (APP2033054). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

introductionOver the past two decades, the prevalence of psychological distress and mental disorders among adolescents has markedly increased. This coincides with the advent and rapid adoption of social media, resulting in a proliferation of research examining time spent on social media and its relationship with mental health. However, to date, findings have been inconclusive. The active/passive model of social media behavior theorizes that "passive" social media behaviors (e.g., scrolling/watching) are associated with worse mental health outcomes than "active" behaviors (e.g., messaging or posting). The present study investigates both cross-sectional and longitudinal relationships between active and passive social media behaviors and both psychological distress and mental wellbeing, while also examining differential effects of gender.

methodsThis study uses data from two assessment waves (2021 and 2022) of a large adolescent Australian data set (n = 3205, T1 mean age 14.6 [SD: 0.62], 53.6% cisgender female/gender diverse). Three distinct behaviors were examined: (1) messaging/video calling friends (active), (2) posting content (active), and (3) scrolling or viewing content (passive).

resultsThere was little evidence of a longitudinal relationship between 12-month change in any of the social media behaviors and psychological distress or mental wellbeing. While there were gender differences in the prevalence of the social media behaviors, there was no evidence of a gender interaction.

conclusionsFindings suggest the need to move beyond the active and passive model of social media behavior as a framework to explain the relationship between social media and adolescent mental health. We discuss several new directions for research and policy.

Indexed as

Adolescent BehaviorMental HealthPsychological DistressSocial MediaStress, PsychologicalAdolescentAustraliaCross-Sectional StudiesFemaleHumansLongitudinal StudiesMale

Identifiers

PMID40990209
PMCPMC12780657

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

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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.