Beyond screen time: social media experiences and adolescent mental health

Background

Research on social media and adolescent mental health has largely relied on overall screen time measures, potentially obscuring associations between specific social media experiences and mental health outcomes. This study examined the relative importance of distinct aspects of social media use for symptoms of five common mental disorders in adolescents.

Methods

Cross-sectional data were drawn from the PULS study, a school-based survey of 4,011 Norwegian lower secondary school students (50.5% boys; mean age 13.98 years) collected in autumn 2025. Mental health was assessed using BCFPI subscales covering symptoms of ADHD, ODD, GAD, SAD, and MDD. Social media use was measured using the short-form Social Media Use Scale, capturing five dimensions: social comparison, hostility from others, hostility towards others, passing time, and seeking support, alongside daily hours of use. Dominance analysis decomposed explained variance (R²) and ranked the relative importance of each predictor.

Results

Social comparison was the strongest predictor for all five symptom domains, accounting for approximately 20% of variance in GAD, SAD, and MDD, and 7–9% in ADHD and ODD. Hostility from others was the second most important predictor across most outcomes (3–6%). Hostility towards others was particularly associated with ODD (10%) and ADHD (4%). Time spent on social media was consistently the weakest predictor (<2% of variance). Model fit was highest for internalizing disorders.

Conclusions

Social comparison on social media appears to be the most important factor for adolescent mental health, particularly for internalizing disorders. Crude screen time measures capture little relevant variance. Future research and interventions should focus on the qualitative nature of social media experiences rather than duration alone.

Key messages

• Social comparison on social media—not screen time—is the strongest predictor of anxiety, depression, and social anxiety symptoms in adolescents.

• Targeting social comparison on social media may prove more effective than restricting time online to prevent mental problems.