Research from the University of Manchester has found no evidence that heavier social media use or more frequent gaming increases symptoms of anxiety or depression in teenagers. The large-scale study, published in the Journal of Public Health, tracked 25,000 11- to 14-year-olds over three school years.
Participants reported their time spent on platforms such as TikTok, Instagram and Snapchat, as well as gaming frequency, alongside questions about their emotional wellbeing. The results showed that increases in social media use or gaming from year 8 to 9 and year 9 to 10 had zero detrimental impact on mental health the following year, for both boys and girls.
Lead author Dr Qiqi Cheng said: “We know families are worried, but our results do not support the idea that simply spending time on social media or gaming leads to mental health problems – the story is far more complex than that.” The researchers also examined how pupils used social media, finding that actively chatting or passive scrolling did not appear to drive mental health difficulties.
The findings come as UK ministers consider whether to follow Australia’s example in banning social media for under-16s. However, the authors stressed that online experiences are not harmless, noting that hurtful messages, online pressures and extreme content could be detrimental. “Rather than blaming technology itself, we need to pay attention to what young people are doing online,” said co-author Prof Neil Humphrey.
