Social networking site use, depressive and anxiety symptoms in adolescents: evidence from a longitudinal cohort study (SCAMP)
In a large longitudinal cohort, we found that SNS use exceeding 3 h per day is associated with increased risks of depressive and anxiety symptoms in adolescents. Findings from mediation analysis suggest that addressing poor sleep hygiene in relation to SNS use might mitigate the negative impact of high SNS use. Our findings may inform the development of early secondary school curricula incorporating digital literacy and sleep hygiene education.
Authors
- Alexander Spiers (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8874-085X)
- Iroise Dumontheil (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5236-7849)
- Michael S. C. Thomas (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8231-6011)
- Shen Chen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2947-208X)
- Rachel B. Smith
- Mireille B. Toledano
- Martin Röösli
- Martina Di Simplicio
- Paul Elliott
- Braulio M. Girela-Serrano
Institutions
- Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute (CH)
- The University of Melbourne (AU)
- University of Basel (CH)
- Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust (GB)
- National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (GB)
- Public Health England (GB)
- National Institute for Health and Care Research (GB)
- NIHR Imperial Biomedical Research Centre (GB)
- West London Mental Health NHS Trust (GB)
- Imperial College London (GB)
- Birkbeck, University of London (GB)
Publication Details
- Journal
- BMC Medicine
- Published
- 2026-02-03
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1186/s12916-026-04667-5
- Citations
- 1
- Primary Topic
- Impact of Technology on Adolescents
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 55.57