Research indicates a significant link between social media use among teenagers and increased levels of anxiety and depression, coinciding with a marked rise in children seeking mental health treatment.
NHS data reveals that the number of children receiving care for mental health issues has surged in recent years. Academics from the University of Oxford, currently conducting the world's largest study on teenage mental health, found that approximately 60% of 16- to 18-year-olds spend between two to four hours daily on social media platforms.
“We discovered a linear relationship between increased anxiety and depression and the time spent networking on social media,” said Professor John Gallacher, who leads the study. He noted that in extreme cases, some young people reported spending up to eight hours a day on these sites. The initial research indicated that girls are more likely to report mental health issues than boys, with Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, WhatsApp, and YouTube ranking as the top five most-used platforms among teens.
The study suggests that enhancing sleep and physical activity could significantly improve the mental wellbeing of adolescents. The study initially involved over 7,000 teenagers, with plans to include around 50,000 young people aged 11-18 across the UK in a comprehensive 10-year examination of their mental health trajectories. Researchers aim to create a “unique mental health map” of the adolescent population.
According to official figures released last week, there were 1.1 million children in England receiving support from NHS-funded services for mental health issues, learning difficulties, and autism as of March. This figure is more than double that of 2016-17, the year the data was first published.
Teenage girls are the most affected, with approximately one in five 16- and 17-year-old girls in contact with NHS services in the past year. Notably, the rates of mental health issues have also risen among primary school children. Nearly 7% of girls and 11% of boys aged six to ten accessed NHS-funded services in 2023-24, compared to 3% and 6% five years prior.
