Abstract
Screen media use is associated with mental health problems among adolescents. However, few studies have examined screen media use using contemporaneous time diaries (rather than retrospective reports), compared associations across specific screen media activities or by gender, or examined associations with self-harm behaviors. Participants were 13- to 15-year-old adolescents completing time diaries (n = 4,252) for one weekday and one weekend day in the 2015 administration of the Millennium Cohort Study, a nationally representative birth cohort study of UK adolescents. Participants also completed a measure of depressive symptoms and reported whether they had engaged in self-harm in the last year. Girls who spent 2 + hrs/day, compared to < 2 h/day, on digital media were more likely to self-harm (for social media use, adjusted relative risk [ARR] for self-harm = 1.46, 95% CI = 1.17, 1.82; for internet use, ARR = 1.80 [1.20, 2.70]). Girls spending more time on digital media were also more likely to be depressed (for social media, ARR = 1.29 [1.03, 1.63]; for internet use, ARR = 1.75 [1.19, 2.59]). Associations with gaming, texting/e-mailing, and TV/video watching among girls were mostly not significant. Associations for boys were mostly not significant. Girls who use digital media (especially social media and the internet) more hrs/day are more likely to have clinically significant levels of depressive symptoms and prior history of self-harm, though gaming, texting/e-mailing, and TV/video watching showed few associations. Screen media use was mostly not significantly associated with self-harm or depression among boys.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
American Heart Association. (2018). Limit screen time among kids, experts caution. Retrieved from https://www.heart.org/en/news/2018/08/06/limit-screen-time-among-kids-experts-caution
Angold, A., Costello, E. J., Messer, S. C., Pickles, A., Winder, F., & Silver, D. (1995). The development of a short questionnaire for use in epidemiological studies of depression in children and adolescents. International Journal of Methods in Psychiatric Research, 5, 237–249.
Araujo, T., Wonneberger, A., Neijens, P., & de Vreese, C. (2017). How much time do you spend online? Understanding and improving the accuracy of self-reported measures of Internet use. Communication Methods and Measures, 11, 173–190.
Barryman, C., Ferguson, C. J., & Negy, C. (2017). Social media use and mental health among young adults. Psychiatry Quarterly, 89, 307–314.
Biernesser, C., Sewall, C. J. R., Brent, D., Bear, T., Mair, C., & Trauth, J. (2020). Social media use and deliberate self-harm among youth: A systematized narrative review. Children and Youth Services Review, 116, 105054. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2020.105054
Booker, C. L., Skew, A. J., Kelly, Y. J., & Sacker, A. (2015). Media use, sports participation, and well-being in adolescence: Cross-sectional findings from the UK household longitudinal study. American Journal of Public Health, 105, 173–179.
Centre for Longitudinal Studies. (2018). The Millennium Cohort Study. Retrieved from https://cls.ucl.ac.uk/cls-studies/millennium-cohort-study/
Chatzitheochari, S., Fisher, K., Gilbert, E., Calderwood, L., Huskinson, T., Cleary, A., & Gershuny, J. (2018). Using New Technologies for Time Diary Data Collection: Instrument Design and Data Quality Findings from a Mixed-Mode Pilot Survey. Social Indicators Research, 137(1), 379–390. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-017-1569-5
Christakis, D. A. (2019). The Challenges of Defining and Studying “Digital Addiction” in Children. JAMA, 321(23), 2277–2278. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2019.4690
Cooper, J., Kapur, N., Webb, R., Lawlor, M., Guthrie, E., Mackway-Jones, K., & Appleby, L. (2005). Suicide after deliberate self-harm: a 4-year cohort study. American Journal of Psychiatry, 162(2), 297–303. https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.ajp.162.2.297
Council on Communications and Media. (2013). Children, adolescents, and the media. Pediatrics, 132, 958–961.
Coyne, S. M., Rogers, A. A., Zurcher, J. D., Stockdale, L., & Booth, M. (2020). Does time spent using social media impact mental health?: An eight year longitudinal study. Computers in Human Behavior, 104, 106160. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2019.106160
Evans-Lacko, S., & Knapp, M. (2016). Global patterns of workplace productivity for people with depression: absenteeism and presenteeism costs across eight diverse countries. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology, 51(11), 1525–1537. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00127-016-1278-4
Ferguson, C. J. (2017). Everything in moderation: Moderate use of screens unassociated with child behavior problems. Psychiatric Quarterly, 88, 797–805.
Fink, E., Patalay, P., Sharpe, H., Holley, S., Deighton, J., & Wolpert, M. (2015). Mental Health Difficulties in Early Adolescence: A Comparison of Two Cross-Sectional Studies in England From 2009 to 2014. Journal of Adolescent Health, 56(5), 502–507. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2015.01.023
Flook, L. (2011). Gender differences in adolescents’ daily interpersonal events and well-being. Child Development, 82(2), 454–461.
Hawton, K., Bergen, H., Casey, D., Simkin, S., Palmer, B., Cooper, J., & Owens, D. (2007). Self-harm in England: A tale of three cities: Multicentre study of self-harm. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology: the International Journal for Research in Social and Genetic Epidemiology and Mental Health Services, 42(7), 513–521. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00127-007-0199-7
Hawton, K., Rodham, K., Evans, E., & Weatherall, R. (2002). Deliberate self harm in adolescents: self report survey in schools in England. BMJ, 325(7374), 1207–1211. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.325.7374.1207
Hunt, M. G., Marx, R., Lipson, C., & Young, J. (2018). No more FOMO: Limiting social media decreases loneliness and depression. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 37, 751–768.
Iida, M., Shrout, P. E., Laurenceau, J.-P., & Bolger, N. (2012). Using diary methods in psychological research. In H. Cooper (Ed.), APA Handbook of Research Methods in Psychology (Vol. 1). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
John, A., Glendenning, A. C., Marchant, A., Montgomery, P., Stewart, A., Wood, S., & Hawton, K. (2018). Self-Harm, Suicidal Behaviours, and Cyberbullying in Children and Young People: Systematic Review. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 20(4), e129. https://doi.org/10.2196/jmir.9044
Kelly, Y., Zilanawala, A., Booker, C., & Sacker, A. (2019). Social Media Use and Adolescent Mental Health: Findings From the UK Millennium Cohort Study. EClinicalMedicine.
Keyes, K. M., Gary, D., O’Malley, P. M., Hamilton, A., & Schulenberg, J. (2019). Recent increases in depressive symptoms among US adolescents: trends from 1991 to 2018. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology, 54(8), 987–996. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00127-019-01697-8
Khouja, J. N., Munafò, M. R., Tilling, K., Wiles, N. J., Joinson, C., Etchells, P. J., & Cornish, R. P. (2019). Is screen time associated with anxiety or depression in young people? Results from a UK birth cohort. BMC Public Health, 19(1), 82. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-018-6321-9
Lin, L. Y., Sidani, J. E., Shensa, A., Radovic, A., Miller, E., Colditz, J. B., et al. (2016). Association between social media use and depression among US young adults. Depression and Anxiety, 33, 323–331.
Luby, J., & Kertz, S. (2019). Increasing Suicide Rates in Early Adolescent Girls in the United States and the Equalization of Sex Disparity in Suicide: The Need to Investigate the Role of Social Media. JAMA Network Open, 2(5), e193916. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2019.3916
Madhav, K. C., Sherchand, S. P., & Sherchan, S. (2017). Association between screen time and depression among U.S. adults. Preventative Medicine Reports, 8, 67–71.
Mangnall, J., & Yurkovich, E. (2008). A Literature Review of Deliberate Self-Harm. Perspectives in Psychiatric Care, 44(3), 175–184. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1744-6163.2008.00172.x
Marchant, A., Hawton, K., Stewart, A., Montgomery, P., Singaravelu, V., Lloyd, K., & John, A. (2017). A systematic review of the relationship between internet use, self-harm and suicidal behaviour in young people: The good, the bad and the unknown. PLoS ONE, 12(8), e0181722. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0181722
Marino, C., Gini, G., Vieno, A., & Spada, M. M. (2018). The associations between problematic Facebook use, psychological distress and well-being among adolescents and young adults: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Journal of Affective Disorders, 226, 274–281. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2017.10.007
McFarland, L. A., & Ployhart, R. E. (2015). Social media: A contextual framework to guide research and practice. Journal of Applied Psychology, 100(6), 1653.
Morgan, C., Webb, R. T., Carr, M. J., Kontopantelis, E., Green, J., Chew-Graham, C. A., & Ashcroft, D. M. (2017). Incidence, clinical management, and mortality risk following self harm among children and adolescents: cohort study in primary care. BMJ, 359, j4351. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.j4351
Mrazek, D. A., Hornberger, J. C., Altar, C. A., & Degtiar, I. (2014). A review of the clinical, economic, and societal burden of treatment-resistant depression: 1996–2013. Psychiatric Services (washington, D. C.), 65(8), 977–987. https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.ps.201300059
Nesi, J., & Prinstein, M. J. (2015). Using Social Media for Social Comparison and Feedback-Seeking: Gender and Popularity Moderate Associations with Depressive Symptoms. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 43(8), 1427–1438. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10802-015-0020-0
Ofcom. (2019). Children and parents: Media use and attitudes report 2018. London Retrieved from https://www.ofcom.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0024/134907/Children-and-Parents-Media-Use-and-Attitudes-2018.pdf
Ohlis, A., Bjureberg, J., Lichtenstein, P., D’Onofrio, B. M., Fruzzetti, A. E., Cederlöf, M., & Hellner, C. (2020). Comparison of suicide risk and other outcomes among boys and girls who self-harm. European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 29(12), 1741–1746. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00787-020-01490-y
Orben, A., & Przybylski, A. K. (2019a). The association between adolescent well-being and digital technology use. Nature Human Behaviour, 3(2), 173–182. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-018-0506-1
Orben, A., & Przybylski, A. K. (2019b). Screens, Teens, and Psychological Well-Being: Evidence From Three Time-Use-Diary Studies. Psychological Science, 30(5), 682–696. https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797619830329
Patalay, P., & Gage, S. H. (2019). Changes in millennial adolescent mental health and health-related behaviours over 10 years: a population cohort comparison study. International Journal of Epidemiology, 48(5), 1650–1664. https://doi.org/10.1093/ije/dyz006
Prescott, A. T., Sargent, J. D., & Hull, J. G. (2018). Meta-analysis of the relationship between violent video game play and physical aggression over time. PNAS Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 115, 9882–9888.
Primack, B. A., Swanier, B., Georgiopoulos, A. M., Land, S. R., & Fine, M. J. (2009). Association between media use in adolescence and depression in young adulthood: a longitudinal study. Archives of General Psychiatry, 66(2), 181–188. https://doi.org/10.1001/archgenpsychiatry.2008.532
Prinstein, M. J., Heilbron, N., Guerry, J. D., Franklin, J. C., Rancourt, D., Simon, V., & Spirito, A. (2010). Peer influence and nonsuicidal self injury: longitudinal results in community and clinically-referred adolescent samples. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 38(5), 669–682. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10802-010-9423-0
Przybylski, A. K., & Weinstein, N. (2017). A Large-Scale Test of the Goldilocks Hypothesis. Psychological Science, 28(2), 204–215. https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797616678438
Riehm, K. E., Feder, K. A., Tormohlen, K. N., Crum, R. M., Young, A. S., Green, K. M., Mojtabai, R. (2019). Associations Between Time Spent Using Social Media and Internalizing and Externalizing Problems Among US Youth JAMA Psychiatry 1–9. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2019.2325
Scharkow, M. (2016). The accuracy of self-reported Internet use—A validation study using client log data. Communication Methods and Measures, 10, 13–27.
Spiller, H. A., Ackerman, J. P., Spiller, N. E., & Casavant, M. J. (2019). Sex- and Age-specific Increases in Suicide Attempts by Self-Poisoning in the United States among Youth and Young Adults from 2000 to 2018. Journal of Pediatrics, 210, 201–208. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpeds.2019.02.045
Steers, M. N., Wickham, R. E., & Acitalli, L. K. (2014). Seeing everyone else’s highlight reels: How Facebook usage is linked to depressive symptoms. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 33, 701–731. https://doi.org/10.1521/jscp.2014.33.8.701
Stone, A. A., & Shiffman, S. (2002). Capturing momentary, self-report data: A proposal for reporting guidelines. Annals of Behavioral Medicine, 24(3), 236–243.
Thabrew, H., Stasiak, K., Bavin, L. M., Frampton, C., & Merry, S. (2018). Validation of the Mood and Feelings Questionnaire (MFQ) and Short Mood and Feelings Questionnaire (SMFQ) in New Zealand help-seeking adolescents. International Journal of Methods in Psychiatric Research, 27(3), e1610. https://doi.org/10.1002/mpr.1610
Tremblay, M. S., LeBlanc, A. G., Kho, M. E., Saunders, T. J., Larouche, R., Colley, R. C., et al. (2011). Systematic review of sedentary behaviour and health indicators in school-aged children and youth. The International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity, 8, 98.
Tromholt, M. (2016). The Facebook experiment: Quitting Facebook leads to higher levels of well-being. Cyberpsychology, Behavior and Social Networking, 19(11), 661–666. https://doi.org/10.1089/cyber.2016.0259
Twenge, J. M. (2019). Why increases in adolescent depression may be linked to the technological environment. Current Opinion in Psychology, 32, 89–94. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.copsyc.2019.06.036
Twenge, J. M., & Campbell, W. K. (2018). Associations between screen time and lower psychological well-being among children and adolescents: Evidence from a population-based study. Preventive medicine reports, 12, 271–283. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pmedr.2018.10.003
Twenge, J. M., & Farley, E. (2021). Not all screen time is created equal: Associations with mental health vary by activity and gender. Social psychiatry and psychiatric epidemiology, 56, 207–217.
Twenge, J. M., & Martin, G. N. (2020). Gender differences in associations between digital media use and psychological well-being: Evidence from three large datasets. Journal of Adolescence, 79, 91–102.
Walentynowicz, M., Witthöft, M., Raes, F., Van Diest, I., & Van den Bergh, O. (2018). Sensory and affective components of symptom perception: A psychometric approach. Journal of Experimental Psychopathology, 9.
Wonneberger, A., & Irazoqui, M. (2017). Explaining response errors of self-reported frequency and duration of TV exposure through individual and contextual factors. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, 94, 259–281.
Yau, J. C., & Reich, S. M. (2019). “It’s just a lot of work”: Adolescents’ self-presentation norms and practices on Facebook and Instagram. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 29, 196–209.
Yuen, E. K., Koterba, E. A., Stasio, M. J., Patrick, R. B., Gangi, C., Ash, P., & Mansour, B. (2019). The effects of Facebook on mood in emerging adults. Psychology of Popular Media Culture, 8, 198–206. https://doi.org/10.1037/ppm0000178
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Supplementary Information
Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
McAllister, C., Hisler, G.C., Blake, A.B. et al. Associations Between Adolescent Depression and Self-Harm Behaviors and Screen Media Use in a Nationally Representative Time-Diary Study. Res Child Adolesc Psychopathol 49, 1623–1634 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10802-021-00832-x
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10802-021-00832-x