According to a recent study published in NatureCommunications, on the impact of social networks and the mental health of young people, age is the most important variable. Researchers are trying to determine who are the young people most at risk to be able to accompany them.
At what age is social media harmful for young people?
The results of this study show that depending on age, the brain does not react in the same way to the impact of social networks. They can actually have an impact on mental health, although low, at two specific times: at puberty and when young people are about to leave home. The survey shows that teens who used social media more frequently during both periods scored lower on measures of life satisfactionone year later.
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By carrying out this study, the researchers are trying to show that social networks, and in particular Instagram and TikTok, are not necessarily bad for all adolescents. They are not entirely good either, and can cause problems, but the idea is to show that the impact varies. The researchers point out that social networks can also present positive points. At certain times in life, they can help young people socialize and build relationships.
Researchers show link between their use and overall life satisfaction
The challenge of this research is to determine which adolescents are at risk, and when they are, so that experts can develop strategies to help them. According to Amy Orben, the originator of this study, and director of the digital mental health program at the University of Cambridge, “Adolescence is a time of very significant cognitive, biological and social changes. These changes interface with social media in very interesting ways. There is great variability between how people use social media and how it influences their lives..
In an attempt to understand the impact of social media on mental health, Amy Orben and her team examined a survey of more than 72,000 people between the ages of 10 and 80 UK. They were each surveyed 7 times between 2011 and 2018 about their life satisfaction and how much time they felt they spent on social media each day. Focusing on young people aged 16 to 21, the researchers found that very low or very high use of social media was linked to low overall life satisfaction.
Among young people aged 10 to 15, there is no big difference in life satisfaction between children who report using social media a little or a lot. However, in this group, girls who used social media a lot said they were less satisfied with their lives than boys. Amy Orben points out that the study has its limitations, as it cannot demonstrate that the use of social media has led to changes in life satisfaction, but simply that there is a relationship between this use and the impact on mental health.