Social media and anxiety

Authors

Keywords:

Social media, news applications, anxiety, sleep.

Abstract

The presence of social media has increased significantly in the past 20 years. From a fledgling novelty in the late 1990s to 2022, social media has grown from 5% of the population using social media in 2005 to 72% in 2021 (Pew Research Center, 2021). Social media has rapidly become a primary method of communication and news content. Although there are benefits, especially in the form of staying in contact with loved ones, the convenience of remote relationships has come at a cost. Social media allows almost limitless access to graphic content including drug use, violence, suicide, and sexual content (Bark’s Annual Report, 2020). Furthermore, increased screen time and access to social media has contributed to the declining well-being of teens (Twenge, 2020), and amount of sleep (Hale et al., 2018) with 65.8% of middle and high school students reporting 7 or fewer hours of sleep (RemedyLive, 2020), which in turn increases anxiety (McMakin & Alfano, 2015; Goldstein et al., 2013).

The current study was conducted with 47 students over 14 days. Participants were split into two groups. In the first week one group was asked to continue with using social media and news applications (SMNA), and the second asked to stop. The roles were switched in the second week.

The findings showed a statistically significant relationship between SMNA use and self-reported levels of anxiety. Not only were these results significant, but the results were almost immediate upon cessation of SMNA use.

Author Biographies

Vincent Jeevar, Northern Michigan University

Dr. Vincent Jeevar received his Ph.D. in Psychology with an Emphasis in Performance Psychology from Grand Canyon University. Dr. Jeevar primarily teaches courses in developmental psychology and general psychology. His research interests include the social identity and social media, with an interest in how these areas work together concerning mental health and wellbeing.

Sydney Reif, Northern Michigan University

Sydney Reif graduated from Northern Michigan University with a Bachelor degree in Psychology, and is currently pursuing a Master’s degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling. Working towards a career in community mental health, Sydney plans to focus her research on the ways nature and social media affect a person’s mental well-being.

Megan Bliesener, Northern Michigan University

Megan Bliesener is a current undergraduate student at Northern Michigan University studying for a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology with an Interdisciplinary Concentration. Research interests and future study direction is in the general area of social psychology, as she has not decided what topic she hopes to research in the future.

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Published

2023-12-31

Issue

Vol. 12 No. 2 (2023): Journal of Social Media in Society

Section

Articles

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