Longitudinal associations between problematic social media use and depressive symptoms in adolescent girls

Lennart Raudsepp; Kristjan Kais

doi:10.1016/j.pmedr.2019.100925

Longitudinal associations between problematic social media use and depressive symptoms in adolescent girls

Prev Med Rep. 2019 Jun 21:15:100925. doi: 10.1016/j.pmedr.2019.100925. eCollection 2019 Sep.

Authors

Lennart Raudsepp¹, Kristjan Kais²

Affiliations

¹ Institute of Sport Sciences and Physiotherapy, Faculty of Medicine, University of Tartu, 4 Ujula street, EE 51018 Tartu, Estonia.
² Institute of Sport Sciences and Physiotherapy, University of Tartu, Tartu, Estonia.

Abstract

The primary aim of the current study was to examine longitudinal relation between problematic social media use (PSMU) and depressive symptoms in adolescent girls. Adolescent girls (n = 397) were assessed in three time points across two years. PSMU and depressive symptoms were subjectively assessed at three waves spaced 2 years apart. Latent growth models were used to test whether changes in PSMU were related to changes in depressive symptoms, and whether baseline PSMU predicted changes in depressive symptoms and vice versa. Results revealed baseline PSMU was positively associated with baseline depressive symptoms (β = 0.29, p < 0.01), and changes in PSMU were related to changes in depressive symptoms (β = 0.22, p < 0.05). In addition, baseline depressive symptoms were predictive of changes in PSMU (β = 0.23, p < 0.05), but baseline PSMU did not predict changes in depressive symptoms. These findings provide evidence of positive associations between increasing PSMU and depressive symptoms and suggest that interventions should target reduction of PSMU to prevent adolescents' mental health problems.

Keywords: Adolescent girls; Depressive symptoms; Problematic social media use.