Teens and social media, the impact changes with age and gender

AGI – The impact of social media on mental health varies by age and gender, with girls experiencing the most negative effects between the ages of 11 and 13, while their male counterparts appear to be associated with more difficulties between the ages of 14 and 15. These are, in a nutshell, the results of a study published in Nature Communications, conducted by scientists from the University of Cambridge, the University of Oxford and the Dunders Institute for Brain, Cognition, and Behavior.

In just over a decade, experts note, Social media has fundamentally changed the way people spend timeSharing information and engaging in relationships, which has led to significant concern about the potential negative effects of these platforms. The team, led by Amy Urban, looked at data on social media use in the UK to assess the relationship between social media use and user well-being.

The researchers looked at a total of more than 84,000 individuals between the ages of 10 and 80, and selected 17,400 young adults between the ages of 10 and 21. Scientists have identified periods of adolescence when social media use was significantly associated with lower life satisfaction.

In particular, this one The negative association appeared to girls between the ages of 11 and 13 years. On the other hand, this association was observed for young males between the ages of 14 and 15 years. Experts argue that these differences suggest that sensitivity to social media could be associated with changes in development, brain structure, or changes due to puberty, which in men tend to reach an older age. Orben, from the University of Cambridge, says: “The relationship between social media use and mental well-being is very complex – and changes within our bodies can make us particularly vulnerable to certain external triggers.

You will need to keep searching for Understand how the effects of media use are affected by ageand gender and the physiological changes that occur in the course of life.” “Our results – adds Sarah Jane Blackmore, associate and co-author at Orben – show that in addition to the negative impact of social media on mental health, it is also necessary to consider the reverse mechanism, whereby less life satisfaction can lead to increased use of social media.