Chapter 14: Behavioral and Psychological Wellbeing
The Role of Social Media on Mental Health
The Role of Social Media on Mental Health
Some people refer to the time we are living in as the age of overload. About half (51%) of U.S. adolescents spend 4 hours or more per day on social media (Rothwell, 2023). It’s easy to get worn down by social media and the constant news cycle, and to be overwhelmed by too many choices that social media affords us. We live in a fast-paced, always-on world with a lot of pressures. Social media offers many benefits, from staying connected to your loved ones and friends, learning about events in your community, and providing you with the ability to get information quickly (Ryan et al., 2017). Unfortunately, these benefits are compounded with many risks (Figure 14.5). Among college students, social media has also been associated with negative effects on mental health (Braghieri et al., 2022) increase symptoms of anxiety, loneliness, and depression (Jing et al., 2025).
The relationship between mental health issues and bullying is well documented. Compared to traditional bullying, cyberbullying isn’t easily reduced by supervision, has the potential for larger audiences, is often anonymous, and has fewer opportunities for someone to provide direct feedback in order to put a stop to the activity (Sticca et al., 2013).
For individuals experiencing cyberbullying, it is much harder to avoid attacks and/or escape as the bullying can take place any time of the day. Cyberbullying has a larger audience due to how well connected social media is throughout the community, state, country, and world. Posts and conversations on social media have limitless reach which often puts the victim in a situation with very little control. Once information is in the virtual world, the text becomes very hard to remove and can “go viral” where it becomes so popular you can find it on any search platform.
Cyberbullying via social media can affect people of all ages, and it puts individuals in a difficult situation in which they cannot adequately defend themselves. The roles of each person involved in cyberbullying is consistently in a state of transition as people switch roles from being the victim, to the perpetrator, or the bystander as social media features (i.e., like, share) are utilized. In a recent study of US college students, 1 out of 2 students report being a victim of cyberbullying, while 1 out of 4 students report being a perpetrator at least one time per month (Giumetti et al., 2022).
Prevention strategies to decrease frequency of cyberbullying events are limited; however, research on victimization has noted the most effective coping strategy for cyberbullying is social support network as a protective, which buffers agains negative psychological outcomes (Lee et al., 2025). Eliminating the social media platform where the attacks are occurring is not the only solution; social media companies are aware that their users may experience these negative events and have put systems into place to report when users engage in such attacks. These companies have also enabled features to block or modify account privacy to prevent situations in the future.
For more information on cyberbullying consult these resources.
| Resource | Details |
|---|---|
| stopbullying.gov | This is a federal government website and is managed by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. It provides trusted resources for prevention and reporting of cyberbullying as well as documents strategies to deal with “haters.” |
| cyberbullying.org | This website provides a list of social media apps, gaming networks, and other platforms and a link to how to report cyberbullying for this particular website. |
| jedfoundation.org | The Jed Foundation is a nonprofit focused on youth mental health and suicide prevention. Through this website you can find immediate resources for you (“I need help”) or for someone you want to help (“I want to help”). The website also has a resource page with more information on cyberbullying including how to cope, understanding what it is, balancing social media, and more. |
Impact on Focus and Attention
When asked how social media use impacts a student’s ability to study, two out of three undergraduate college students indicated they were more drawn to social media than their school work (Kolhar et al., 2021). Although the answer may be as simple as social media is more fun, the deeper issue may be related to how your use of social media has trained your brain to prefer to take in information in short doses. Social media rewards a distracted, shorter attention span, which may reward giving our brain quick doses of dopamine, which is a chemical in your brain related to feelings of pleasure or satisfaction. Similarly, when your phone beeps, buzzes, or vibrates with new posts waiting for you, your brain receives a dose of dopamine.
Distractions by social media have also been linked to our desire to be connected and be available for people in our networks and the fear of missing out (FoMO; Koessmeier & Büttner, 2021).
Impact on Relationships
Problematic social media use has been well documented among individuals who experience social anxiety and loneliness (O’Day & Heimberg, 2021). For these individuals, social media is often used as a form of connection when in-person relationships are lacking. As mentioned above, for individuals who actively use social media as a way to directly communicate with others, social media use can provide social support and connection. Alternatively, those who use social media more passively, such as only to view other’s lives, have more negative outcomes that can include depression and anxiety. Are you active in your engagement or passive?
Need for Validation
According to research, adolescents may use social media to receive validation. When they make posts, they expect others to respond. The lack of response to social media posts is often interpreted as “no one cares since no one took the time to respond.” This line of thinking can lead to self-doubt, insecurity, and anxiety (Mano, 2025).
