The Impact of Social Media on Mental Health: A Literature Review

Author’s Name

Institution Affiliation

Course Code and Name

Instructor

Due Date
 The Impact of Social Media on Mental Health

This literature review will discuss how social media has become an integral part of

people's lives in terms of communication, information sharing, and relationship development.

Currently, about 4.9 billion users engage in the use of social media, hence making it a necessity

in the lives of young people. Nevertheless, this new form of interaction has raised some issues in

several areas of mental health like depression, anxiety, self-esteem and psychological health. The

following paper reviews the literature to find a link between social media and mental health.

Research Questions

1. What are the underlying ways through which the use of social media impacts the mental

health of adolescents and young adults?

2. Which types of social media engagement are related to which mental health?

Literature Review

The Complex Relationship Between Social Media and Mental Health

Literature regarding the connection between social media and mental health indicates

that the effects are not as easy to categorize into positive or negative consequences. In the

umbrella review of 25 systematic reviews and meta-analyses by Valkenburg et al. (2022), it was

revealed that the effects of SRM on adolescent mental health are diverse. They found that social

media use is moderately related to mental health issues. These departures ranged significantly

across the particular studies, indicating that numerous other factors cut across teaching platform

usage time.
 Zsila and Reyes (2023) highlight the reciprocal nature of this relationship by indicating

that social media poses both a threat and a safeguard to well-being. In their review, they pointed

out that social media will help offer social support, enhance the availability of mental health

resources, and reduce social loneliness. On the same note, they can also encourage comparison

behaviors, introduce users to negative content, and lead to problem uses. According to the

research, the effectiveness of the social media experience depends on how it is applied rather

than if it is applied.

Specific Mental Health Outcomes Associated with Social Media Use

Depression and Anxiety

Of all the mental health effects of social media use, depression and anxiety have been

studied more than other related disorders. Published in January 2024, Sala et al. discussed the

findings of 15 umbrella reviews and meta-analyses that revealed low-to-moderate positive

relations between problematic use of SM and elevated levels of depression and anxiety. Their

investigation revealed such mediators as upward social comparison, cyberbullying, and sleep

disturbance.

Titisuk et al. (2023) considered how exactly depressive symptoms can be shaped

through social media. Their review indicated that social media has several risks, such as social

comparison, FOMO and perceived social rejection, that could lead to depressive symptoms. The

authors also stated that these impacts increased when SM was employed in a passive manner

compared to an active one, stressing the matter of usage on the results.

A cross-sectional study by Nazari (2023) added more clarity when the study was

conducted during COVID-19, whereby students using social media more often were more
anxious. Notably, the study established that pandemic information seeking on social media was

related to anxiety, indicating that content type influences mental health.

Self-esteem and Body Image Concerns

Some literature has associated social media platforms with negative implications on

body image and self-esteem. In her 2023 meta-synthesis of published articles, Huong established

that social media applications such as Instagram and TikTok had more substantial negative

effects on body image, particularly for females. They found out that both the ideal and filtered

images led to higher levels of body dissatisfaction and appearance anxiety. The review also

indicated that the behaviors on social sites have changed, emphasizing taking and posting

pictures as among the new threat factors for body image concerns.

Khalaf et al. (2023) also described how social media appeared and the number of likes

and comments prominent sources through which self-worth is defined. The systematic review

conducted by their research showed that higher appearance-focused SSMU levels were linked to

lower self-esteem and higher adolescent body surveillance behaviors.

Sleep Disturbance

Disturbed sleep is also well established as another way through which social media

negatively impacts the mental health of users. As per Valkenburg et al. (2022), the authors

emphasized that prior studies support a negative association between the use of social media at

night and sleep quality and quantity. A systematic review of their study demonstrated that using

social media before bed results in delayed sleep, lack of proper sleep, and increased drowsiness

during the daytime, leading to poor mental health for the patients.
 Sala et al. (2024) elaborated on these findings by stating that the use of social media

may affect sleep and that, in return, sleep can influence the use of social media. They discovered

that sleep interruption was not only caused by social media use during the night but also a

variable that could increase social media usage. This observation could, in turn, cause increased

sleep and mental health problems.

Moderating Factors and Individual Differences

Recent studies suggest that personal characteristics and usage activities modulate the

relationship between social media use and mental health. In a study by Titisuk et al. (2023), the

authors showed that passive news consumption had stronger relationships with negative mental

health than active engagement. As their review pointed out, passive use leads to upward social

comparison and rumination but lacks social interaction’s positive effects, which might explain its

link with depressive symptoms.

Valkenburg et al. (2022) added further complexity to this difference by establishing that

passive use, in general, was more favourably connected with adverse mental health

consequences; nevertheless, some forms of active use—more specifically, social comparison or

seeking acceptance—also exhibited adverse results. This implies that the active or passive nature

of the content may not be as crucial to the success of a video’s mental health impact as user

motivation is.

Age and Developmental Stage

social media use and mental health are mediated by age, which is shown to be a robust

determinant in the association between the two. Previous studies by Khalaf et al. (2023)

indicated that adolescents in the age range of twelve to fourteen years were more susceptible to
negative mental health outcomes when compared to older adolescents and young adults. The

authors explained this difference by developmental factors, including less well-developed

normative regulation of emotions and higher sensitivity to peer pressure during early

adolescence.

Sala et al. (2024) built on these developmental concerns, stating that adolescence is a

time of increased susceptibility because the brain is still developing, and areas responsible for

impulse control and social cognition are especially prominent during this developmental stage.

They concluded that the effects of social media could be significant during this transitional

period of child development, further stressing the need for appropriate guidance and strategies.

Positive Impacts and Potential Benefits

There are numerous reviews highlighting that some uses of social media have positive

effects on mental health as well. Naslund et al. (2022) pointed out that some aspects of SMM are

useful for clients with mental illness: less stigmatization, access to peers, and self-voicing. Their

research was that people who used Internet discussion forums for mental health disorders were

able to gain social support and information sources which they may otherwise lack.

Zsila and Reyes (2023) pointed out some positive aspects, such as identity, social

relationships, and exposure to different viewpoints. They concluded that social sites had the

potential to promote awareness of mental health issues and connect users with related resources,

especially in areas where access to such services was scarce or lacking.

Conclusion

This literature review provides a clear insight into the various aspects of social media

and mental health: the usage of social media applications, differences in users’ behavior, the
nature of the application and the environment. Ways in which negative mental health is linked to

problematic internet use involve depression and anxiety, although such relationships are

normally modest and contingent on factors. Therefore, greater attention should be focused on the

distinction between different types of engagement rather than on the conclusion that social

networks are beneficial or have a negative impact. Further research will need to be more

methodologically rigorous and have to consider possible individual differences. Consequently,

encouraging such use, media literacy, and beneficial online context could lead to better mental

health.
 References

Huong, X. V. (2023). Exploring the impact of social media on mental health from a

psychological perspective: A review of the contemporary literature. International

Journal of Current Science Research and Review, 06(10).

[Link]

Khalaf, A. M., Alubied, A., Khalaf, A., & Rifaey, A. (2023). The impact of social media on the

mental health of adolescents and young adults: A systematic review. Cureus, 15(8).

[Link]

Naslund, J. A., Bondre, A., Torous, J., & Aschbrenner, K. A. (2022). Social media and mental

health: Benefits, risks, and opportunities for research and practice. Journal of

Technology in Behavioral Science, 5(3), 245–257. [Link]

00134-x

Nazari, A. (2023). Social media and mental health in students: A cross-sectional study during the

COVID-19 pandemic. BMC Psychiatry, 23(1). [Link]

04859-w

Sala, A., Porcaro, L., & Gómez, E. (2024). Social Media Use and adolescents’ mental health and

well-being: An umbrella review. Computers in Human Behavior Reports, 14(14),

100404–100404. [Link]

Titisuk, P., Vajarapongse, Y., & Thongwon, L. (2023). The impact of using social media on the

mental health of adolescents. International Journal of Current Science Research and

Review, 06(06). [Link]

mental health: An umbrella review of the evidence. Current Opinion in Psychology,

44(44), 58–68. [Link]

Zsila, Á., & Reyes, M. E. S. (2023). Pros & cons: Impacts of social media on mental health.

BMC Psychology, 11(1), 1–2. [Link]