Influence of Social Media Usage on the Mental Health and Well-being of Adolescents

The development of digital technology and online networking platforms at a rate has shifted the social environment of adolescents, as the use of social media has become a part of their lives. Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat, and YouTube are some of the platforms that enable teenagers to interact, exchange experiences, and access information on the fly. Although these platforms provide a viable channel of social interaction, creativity, and learning, there is mounting research that indicates that too much use of these social media can have adverse impacts on the mental health of adolescents. This paper will discuss the association between the use of social media and its mental health outcome among young people through a quantitative cross-sectional survey design. The study involved 200 participants aged 1317 years of age who were given structured questionnaires on variables such as the daily social media use, the quality of sleep, and the wellbeing of the participants. Depression and anxiety symptoms were measured by means of standardized mental health assessment tools, such as the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) and the Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7) scale. Correlation analysis was used to find a relationship between the length of social media and the indicators of mental health. The results demonstrate that teenagers spending over three hours a day on social media complain much more anxiety, depression, and sleep disruption than those that have moderate or less use.