Effects of Depressive Symptoms on Social Media Usage

Passive social media use appears to be increased by depressive symptoms, loneliness, and high levels of stress. In a longitudinal study, Kross and colleagues have demonstrated that a sense of loneliness is a predictor for more intense usage of social media (71), as it might represent a solution to alleviate depressed mood, reinforcing PSMU (68). Specific kinds of actions on social media, related to the peculiarity of the site, were found to be associated with adverse emotional and relational outcomes at different times and vice versa. With regard to Instagram, Frison and Eggermont reported that former browsing behavior was related to a later increase in depressed mood (38). Moreover, levels of depressed mood at Time 1 were associated with increased Instagram posting at Time 2, without differences between boys and girls (38). As for Facebook, levels of depressive symptoms at the first stage can be predictive of a lower number of Facebook friends and fewer ties between friends in the second stage (52). Another study based on Facebook data highlights the relationships between internalizing symptoms and online communication in terms of received comments offering support in response to posts indicating negative or depressive emotional states, with girls receiving more backing compared to boys. Such rumination-like behavior through social media might affect negatively not only the mood of the person who posts but also of those who respond, increasing levels of internalizing symptoms and depression
(72). Depressive symptoms, together with sleep problems, can represent a positive predictor for excessive involvement in Facebook-related activities (53). Similarly, emotional dependence on Facebook has been found to be negatively correlated to several aspects of adolescents’ psychological well-being, such as autonomy, purpose in life, positive relationships, personal growth, self-acceptance, and ability to manage one’s environment.

n Article Age N Social media Disorder/symptoms Findings ES

1 Szwedo et al. (23) 13/20 89 , MS Depressive symptoms, social anxiety – (depr); + (s.anx) 0.40–0.60
2 Moreno et al. (24) 18–19 66
Alcohol use + 0.72
3 Pumper and Moreno (25) 12–14 315
Alcohol use + 0.15
4 Tiggemann and Slater (26) 13–15 1,087 , MS Body image concerns + 0.26
5 D’Angelo et al. (27) 18–19 312
Alcohol use + 0.20
6 Huang et al. (28) 14–15 1,563 , MS Alcohol and cigarette use ns na
7 Birnbaum et al. (29)) 12–21 80
Psycotic-spectrum and mood disorder na na
8 Nesi and Prinstein (30) 12–16 619 , Depressive symptoms + 0.53
9 Bert et al. (31) 18 341
Pro-anorexia na na
10 Ehrenreich and Underwood (2016) 18 125
Internalizing symptoms + 0.58
11 Frison et al. (32) 12–19 1,612
Depressive symptoms ns 0.58
12 Marczinski et al. (33) 19 146
Alcohol use + 0.44
13 Moreno et al. (34) 17–19 94 , Alcohol use + 0.47–0.92
14 Naeemi and Tamam (35) 13–16 401
Psychological well-being – 0.67
15 Sampasa-Kanyinga and Chaput (36) 11–19 4,468 , , , Body image concerns + 0.39
16 Abar et al. (37) 19 252
Substance use na na
17 Frison and Eggermont (38) 12–19 671
Depressed mood + 0.42
18 Gul et al. (39) 13–19 289
ADHD + 0.69
19 Jacob et al. (40) 16–24 21
Self-injury + na
20 Nesi et al. (30) 15–16 658
Alcohol use + 0.43
21 Nesi et al. (30) 13–16 816 , Depressive symptoms + 0.85
22 Pontes (41) 10-18 509
Depressive symptoms, anxiety + 0.62–0.68
23 Spilkova et al. (42) 16 4,887 , , , Binge drinking, marjiuana use + (drink); ns (marj) 0.88
24 van Rooij et al. (43) 12–15 3,945
Depressive symptoms, social anxiety + 0.45–0.95
25 Weinstein (44) 14–18 507
Depressive symptoms + 0.68
26 Brown et al. (45) 16 52
Self-injury, suicidal ideation na na
27 Muzaffar et al. (46) 12–20 102
Depressive symptoms, social anxiety ns na
28 Niu et al. (47) 12–18 764 QZ Depressive symptoms + 0.44
29 Settanni et al. (48) 15 283
ADHD symptoms + 0.56
30 Chang et al. (49) 12–16 303
Body esteem – 0.58
31 de Vries et al. (50) 12–19 440
Body dissatisfaction + 0.49
32 Louragli et al. (51) 12–19 541
Anxiety, nomophobia + 0.50–0.98
33 Negriff (52) 13/21 319
Depressive symptoms – 0.58
34 Przepiorka and Blachnio (53) 12–17 426
Depressive symptoms + 0.83

Age, range of age of the participants; N, sample size; ES, effect size; +, directly proportional; –, inversely proportional; ns, non-significant; na, not applicable; , Facebook; , Instagram;
, Twitter; , YouTube; , Snapchat; , Tumblr; , Skype; MS, MySpace; QZ, QZone. Icons of social media platforms have been created using the fontawesome package (63).

(35). An addictive attitude toward Facebook was found to be positively correlated with depression, regardless of age (age range 10–18) and gender (41). Longitudinal research on adolescent girls

found an association between changes in PSMU and changes in depressive symptoms in both directions, with baseline levels of depressive symptoms being predictive of PSMU (54).