Early Exposure to Social Media Leads to Problems in Adolescence

CEBU, Philippines —  There is no doubt that social media is a huge part of a young person’s life. In fact, most teens today live out their lives online. But can a child be too young for social media? According to a study done in the United Kingdom, the answer is, yes.

Researchers at the University of Essex found an association between time spent on social media in the tween years (age 10) and reduced wellbeing later in adolescence (ages 10-15). What’s more, their findings discovered that using social media at a young age directly affected girls, but had a smaller impact on boys.

In other words, they discovered that girls who spend a lot of time on social media at a young age may be unhappier later on than teens that used social media less. Additionally, they found that this issue of unhappiness only happens among girls and not among boys.

“Our findings suggest that it is important to monitor early interactions with social media, particularly in girls, as this could have an impact on wellbeing later in adolescence and perhaps throughout adulthood,” said Dr. Cara Booker.

The researchers analyzed data on nearly 10,000 teens from a large national survey of UK households and focused on how much time the young participants spent chatting on social media during a typical school day.

As a result, they noticed that wellbeing appeared to decline throughout adolescence in both boys and girls, based on scores for happiness and other aspects of wellbeing. For instance, social and emotional difficulties declined with age for boys, but rose for girls. Researchers suspect that girls are more sensitive than boys to social comparisons and interactions that impact self-esteem.

They also suspect that the sedentary time spent on social media impacts mental health and happiness in other ways. Although the study does not conclusively prove whether or how social media interactions affect young people’s wellbeing, but it does suggest a connection.

The researchers note that compared to girls, boys may spend more time gaming than “chatting” online. Yet, because gaming has become increasingly social, it’s possible that it also has an effect that was not examined in the study.

Another finding is that throughout adolescence happiness scores dropped nearly three points in girls and two points in boys. Still, the researchers concluded that overall wellbeing decreased for both.

Finally, researchers caution that because the study used self-reported data and only social media interactions on school days were recorded, the associations between social media and wellbeing may have been underestimated.

In response to these initial findings, the researchers suggest that parents need to become more digitally literate. They also suggest that parents need to teach their kids how to interact with social media in a positive way.

For instance, girls need to realize that they should not compare their lives with what they see online. Instead, they need to be reminded that many times people are posting only the positive or exciting aspects of their lives. If girls start comparing themselves to what they see online, they may falsely assume that their peers are leading more exciting lives than they are, which can lead to unhappiness.

Overall, Dr. Booker says, “I don’t want people to come away with the idea that social media is bad, just that increased use at a young age may be detrimental for girls.” So how do parents protect their kids from risks of social media? The best course of action is to establish some guidelines regarding social media use, as well as have ongoing conversations with the kids about what is happening online.

There is no doubt that social media is here to stay. As a result, it is very important for parents to help educate their kids on both benefits and the pitfalls of this novel technology. Trying to eliminate or prohibit social media completely is not a wise course of action.

In the end, it is better that kids learn how to manage social media while parents are there to help them rather than just prohibiting it until they are out of the house. Although it may require some effort, parents will be thankful that they invested the time and effort into helping their kids navigate the world of social media. (www.verywellfamily.com) Sherri Gordon