Prospective, Directional Associations Between Social Media Intensity and Loneliness in Adolescence

ABSTRACT We investigated the relationship between social media and loneliness in early adolescents in Perú across 15 months of COVID‐19 lockdowns (grades 6–8; 56% female in May 2020). Cross‐sectional analyses with data from May 2020 ( n = 1613) found that higher social media intensity was associated with higher feelings of loneliness. In a longitudinal follow‐up study ( n = 455), we investigated bidirectional associations in May 2020, November 2020 and July 2021, and found that feelings of loneliness in girls were associated with a subsequent increase in social media intensity. Social media intensity was not associated with changes in feelings of loneliness in either gender. Our findings with adolescents in low‐ and middle‐income urban settings in Perú underscore the importance of longitudinal research and contribute to understanding these issues globally.