Negative social media experiences and lower self-efficacy are associated with depressive symptoms

BACKGROUND: Social media are an integral part of adolescents’ daily lives, and reviews have suggested an overall small association between more social media use and mental health problems. However, researchers have commonly investigated social media use solely in a time use perspective, rendering nuances in adolescents’ social media experience less well explored. This study examined depressive symptoms in adolescents in relationship to time spent on social media, negative social media-related experiences, and general self-efficacy. METHODS: Cross-sectional data collected in a national survey of adolescents aged 13-19 years in Norway, Ungdata 2021 (n = 139841), was used. Depressive symptoms were measured with a six-item scale based on the Depressive Mood Inventory. Associations with depressive symptoms were analyzed with multivariate linear regression analyses. RESULTS: Time spent on social media was associated with depressive symptoms (β = 0.09, p < 0.001). However, negative social media-related experiences were more strongly associated with depressive symptoms (β ranging 0.09-0.22, all p < 0.001), and their inclusion weakened the initial association between time on social media and depressive symptoms. General self-efficacy was directly associated with lower symptom levels (β=-0.29, p < 0.001) but did not change the associations between social media use and depressive symptoms. CONCLUSIONS: The findings imply that not only time spent on social media, but in particular negative social media-related experiences, are related to depressive symptoms in Norwegian adolescents. General self-efficacy is an important resource for adolescents’ mental health. Public health initiatives should include efforts to monitor and prevent negative events related to adolescents’ social media use, as well as efforts to increase adolescents’ general self-efficacy. KEY MESSAGES: • Negative social media-related experiences are related to depressive symptoms in Norwegian adolescents. • Public health initiatives may focus on monitoring and preventing negative social media-related experiences among adolescents.