Social Media Usage Patterns and Anxiety in Chinese Adolescents: Age-Specific Risks from a Cross-Sectional Perspective

The relationship between social media use and adolescent mental health is complex and multifaceted, with recent findings suggesting that the associations vary according to the nature of social media activities, but the most common social media usage patterns among Chinese adolescents remain insufficiently explored. This study explored the associations of overall social media use and social media use for entertainment and information seeking with anxiety among Chinese adolescents across three developmental stages. A total of 6125 adolescents (Mage = 14.65) from urban and suburban schools across four regions of China were included in the analyses. Participants completed surveys measuring the frequency, duration, and type of social media use, anxiety symptoms, and demographic characteristics. The results showed that, in the adjusted group analyses, entertainment-oriented social media engagement was significantly associated with higher anxiety, whereas information-seeking use showed no significant association with anxiety. Furthermore, age was identified as a significant moderator of the association between entertainment-oriented social media use and anxiety, with this association being particularly pronounced during early adolescence (ages 12–14). These findings may inform the development and evaluation of age-specific intervention strategies focused on entertainment-oriented social media engagement, particularly during the critical developmental window of early adolescence.