Social media addiction measures were linked with distress in students
A review associated social media addiction with more anxiety, depression, loneliness and fear of missing out, alongside lower self-esteem.
Based on the published abstract. The full paper may contain additional methods, results and limitations.
The 30-second takeaway
Students with higher levels of social media addiction tended to have more anxiety, depression, loneliness and fear of missing out, alongside lower self-esteem. These pooled correlations describe relationships between measures, not what caused them. The review cannot show whether changing social media behaviour would improve mental health or whether the relationships run in the other direction.
The abstract does not identify individual study designs, students' ages or measurement timing. Its correlation results provide no clear sequence of events and cannot establish causation.
What researchers found
Association with depression
Social media addiction in relation to depression among students, without a treatment-group comparator. Assessment timing was not reported.
Reading the correlation
The depression estimate is a correlation coefficient, not a percentage increase in depression risk. It indicates that the measures tended to move together; it does not quantify how many students had a clinical diagnosis.
Scope of the question
The review focused on social media addiction as measured in the included studies. The abstract reports no comparison of specific platforms, daily time limits or a programme designed to reduce social media use.
The original publication
Correlations between social media addiction and anxiety, depression, FoMO, loneliness and self-esteem among students: A systematic review and meta-analysis.
Jing Z, Yang W, Lei Z et al.
PLoS One · 2025
- PubMed ID
- 40991552
- Record checked
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