‘Little evidence’ social media or gaming is to blame for teenage mental health problems

Social media or video games are unlikely to be causing mental health problems in young teenagers, a major new study has suggested.

New research from the University of Manchester, published in the Journal of Public Health, disputes widespread concerns among parents and teachers today about the impact of the digital world on young people.

Researchers followed 25,000 young people aged 11 to 14 over three school years as part of the #BeeWell programme, which focuses on understanding and improving young people’s wellbeing.

Pupils self-reported their social media habits, gaming frequency and emotional difficulties over three school years. From this, researchers concluded there was no evidence that heavier social media use or more frequent gaming caused increases in symptoms of anxiety or depression over the following year, for boys or girls.

Co-author Professor Neil Humphrey said: “Our findings tell us that young people’s choices around social media and gaming may be shaped by how they’re feeling, but not necessarily the other way around.

“Rather than blaming technology itself, we need to pay attention to what young people are doing online, who they’re connecting with and how supported they feel in their daily lives.”

Lead author Dr Qiqi Cheng added: “We know families are worried, but our results do not support the idea that simply spending time on social media or gaming leads to mental health problems – the story is far more complex than that.”

However, girls who gamed more often went on to spend slightly less time on social media the following year, and boys who reported more emotional difficulties were more likely to cut back on gaming in the future. Researchers suggest this pattern could be linked to losing interest in hobbies when feeling low, or parents limiting screen time when they notice their child is struggling.

The research team also explored whether actively chatting on social media or just passively scrolling made a difference, but the overall picture remained the same – technology habits alone did not appear to drive mental health difficulties.

The authors emphasised that this does not mean online experiences are harmless: hurtful messages, online pressures and extreme content could all still have real impacts on wellbeing. They argued that focusing simply on screen time misses the bigger picture.