Children’s Social Media Use, Depression, and Socioeconomic Inequalities - A Longitudinal Investigation Based on the ABCD Study®

This study investigated the moderating roles of socioeconomic status (SES) and social media use (SMU) in predicting changes in children’s depressive symptoms over 2 years. Data from 8182 American children (aged 10-14, 52.8% males, 53.6% White) participating in the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study were used. Contrary to expectations, we found decreased depressive symptoms over time that were not predicted by social media use. However, SES was a significant moderator: the highest decreases in depressive symptoms were observed in the low SES and low SMU group (b = -.04) and in the high SES and high SMU group (b = -.037). This study contributes to a more nuanced understanding of social media effects on children.