Purpose

This study examined the relationship between frequent social media use and subsequent mental health in a representative sample of US adolescents. Also investigated were sex differences in multiyear growth trajectories of mental health problem internalization relative to social media use.

Methods

Four waves (2013–2018) of nationally representative, longitudinal Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health data were analyzed. A total of 5,114 US adolescents aged 12–14 years at baseline had repeated data across all waves. Statistical analysis involved testing a series of sequential-weighted single-group and multi-group latent growth curve models using R version 3.6.2.

Results

Of the 5,114 respondents, 2,491 were girls (48.7%). The percentage of frequent social media use was 26.4% at Wave 1 and 69.1% at Wave 4 for boys compared to 38.3% and 80.6% for girls (p < .001). Boys showed an improving (−0.218, p = .005) but girls showed a deteriorating linear trend (0.229, p = .028) for mental health at the full multigroup latent growth curve model. Social media use accounted for mental health conditions across Waves 1–3 for boys (ps<.01) but only at Wave 1 for girls (p = .035). With the addition of the social media use variable alone, model fit dramatically improved, and residual variances in growth patterns (i.e., random effect) became nonsignificant for boys. Substantial sex differences existed in baseline status, directionality, and shape of mental health growth trajectories as well as interplay of social media use with other factors.

Discussion

Findings of the study suggest that frequent social media use is associated with poorer subsequent mental health for adolescents.

中文翻译：

---

美国青少年代表性小组样本中频繁使用社交媒体及其与心理健康问题的潜在关联

目的

本研究调查了美国青少年代表性样本中频繁使用社交媒体与随后的心理健康之间的关系。还调查了与社交媒体使用相关的心理健康问题内化的多年增长轨迹的性别差异。

方法

分析了四波（2013-2018 年）具有全国代表性的烟草和健康纵向人口评估数据。共有 5,114 名基线年龄在 12-14 岁的美国青少年在所有浪潮中都有重复数据。统计分析涉及使用 R 版本 3.6.2 测试一系列顺序加权单组和多组潜在生长曲线模型。

结果

在 5,114 名受访者中，2,491 名是女孩（48.7%）。男孩频繁使用社交媒体的百分比在第 1 波和第 4 波分别为 26.4% 和 69.1%，而女孩则分别为 38.3% 和 80.6% ( p < .001)。在完整的多组潜在生长曲线模型中，男孩表现出改善（-0.218，p  = .005），但女孩表现出心理健康恶化的线性趋势（ 0.229， p = .028）  。社交媒体的使用解释了男孩在第 1-3 波中的心理健康状况（p s<.01），但仅在女孩的第 1 波中（p = .035)。仅添加社交媒体使用变量后，模型拟合度显着提高，并且生长模式的剩余方差（即随机效应）对男孩而言变得不显着。在基线状态、方向性和心理健康成长轨迹的形状以及社交媒体使用与其他因素的相互作用方面存在很大的性别差异。

讨论

研究结果表明，频繁使用社交媒体与青少年随后的心理健康状况较差有关。