Adolescents who use social media such as Instagram, Snapchat, YouTube and TikTok every day are more likely to engage in risky behavior, according to a new study.
Children as young as 10 are at greater risk of using alcohol, tobacco and drugs, or taking part in anti-social behavior or risky sexual behavior if they are frequent or daily social media users.
And spending at least two hours a day on social media doubles the odds of consuming alcohol compared with children who are on social media for less than two hours a day.
But while researchers established the link between social media use and risky behavior, they say more work is needed to confirm that one causes the other.
More than three quarters of U.S. teens say they use YouTube every day, with more than half reporting being daily users of TikTok, Snapchat or Instagram. One in five say they use YouTube constantly, with around one in six saying the same about TikTok and Snapchat.
Previous studies linking social media use and risky behavior have tended to focus on college and university students, but a team from Scotland set out to address that gap by looking at the impact on adolescents.
Researchers analyzed studies from around the world involving 1.4 million 10-19-year-olds, with the results reported today in the British Medical Journal.
They found that frequent or daily social media use by adolescents increased the likelihood they would use alcohol by 48%. The link was stronger for those aged 16 and over and for those exposed to user-generated content, rather than marketing.
Drug use among frequent or daily social media users was 28% higher than among their peers who were on social media for less than two hours a day, while tobacco use was 85% higher.
Heavy social media use was also linked with risky sexual behavior, such as sexting and transactional sex, as well as not using condoms, according to the research team, based at Glasgow University and Public Health Scotland.
It was also associated with anti-social behavior, such as bullying, physical assault and aggressive behavior. Frequent or daily social media users were also three times more likely to gamble compared with those who used social media infrequently.
The strongest evidence of harm came when adolescents were exposed to risky health behavior, particularly for unhealthy eating and consuming alcohol.
Previous studies have suggested a link between social media use and self-esteem, and that it has its greatest negative impact on girls aged 11-13 and boys aged 14-15.
Many teens are aware of the potential risks of social media. Around a third say they spend too much time on social media, a similar proportion say it has a mostly negative effect on people their age, but more than half say it would be hard for them to give it up.
As many of the measures relied on personal recall, researchers on the latest study could not rule out the possibility that other factors, such as parents’ behaviors, were involved.
Further research should try to establish whether social media use causes risky behaviors, or whether both were caused by other factors, the study team said.
“Experimental and risk taking behaviors are an inherent part of adolescence,” the researchers said. “However, as safeguards for a digital world are still evolving, precaution across academic, governmental, health and educational sectors may be warranted before the risks of adolescents’ use of social media is fully understood.”
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November 30, 2023 at 06:34AM
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Social Media Use Linked With Risky Behavior In Adolescents, Study Finds - Forbes
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