Comparing oneself with others on social media is more strongly associated with symptoms of anxiety and depression among adolescents than using social media to pass the time. This is shown by a study of more than 4,000 Norwegian adolescents, conducted by researchers at Karolinska Institutet in collaboration with the Norwegian Institute of Public Health. The study is published in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health.
Previous research on social media and adolescent mental health has often focused on overall time spent on social media. In this study, the researchers examined how specific behaviours and experiences on social media are associated with different mental health symptoms.
Passing time when bored was the most prominent aspect of social media use among the adolescents. It showed weak associations with the symptoms examined. Comparing oneself with others was also common and showed considerably stronger associations, particularly with symptoms of anxiety, social anxiety and depression.
‘Our findings show that we need to distinguish between different ways of using social media. Passing time showed weak associations with mental health symptoms. At the same time, passing time was the most common reason for using social media. This could be an important piece of the puzzle in understanding how social media use affects adolescent mental health and how we should study it. Previous studies measuring overall use have not found strong evidence of an association,’ says Jonas Raninen , associate professor at the Department of Clinical Neuroscience , Karolinska Institutet.
Photo: N/A
Five aspects were examined
The study is based on questionnaire responses from 4,011 adolescents at 21 schools in south-eastern Norway in autumn 2025. The participants were, on average, 14 years old.
The researchers examined five aspects of social media use: social comparison, passing time, seeking support, hostility from others and hostility towards others. The adolescents also answered questions about symptoms of depression, generalised anxiety, social anxiety, adhd and oppositional defiant disorder. The questions measured symptoms and were not used to establish diagnoses.
“We compared how strongly the five aspects were associated with different mental health symptoms, while accounting for the adolescents’ age and overall time spent on social media. This provided a more detailed picture than examining time spent alone,” says Geir Scott Brunborg , research specialist at the Centre for Psychiatry Research , Department of Clinical Neuroscience , Karolinska Institutet, and first author of the study.
Photo: Simen Gald
Experiencing hostility from others, such as being ridiculed, was also associated with mental health symptoms. However, these associations were weaker than those for social comparison. The overall pattern of findings was similar for girls and boys.
The researchers suggest that comparing oneself with others on social media may lead to recurring negative thoughts about oneself and an increased sense of lacking what others have. Experiencing hostility from others may increase mistrust and weaken relationships with peers. These possible explanations need to be examined in future studies.
Associations need to be followed over time
According to the researchers, the findings suggest that parents, school staff and healthcare professionals need to pay attention to what adolescents experience on social media, as well as how much time they spend there.
However, the study cannot establish cause and effect, as social media use and symptoms were measured at the same time. Mental health symptoms could, for example, lead adolescents to compare themselves more with others. Other factors may also contribute to the associations. In addition, the study relies on self-reported data from one part of Norway, which limits the generalisability of the findings.
“Our conclusion is that both what adolescents do on social media and their experiences need attention. The next step is to examine these associations over time and establish what comes first: whether social comparison contributes to anxiety and low mood, whether these symptoms lead to more social comparison, or whether the relationship works in both directions,” says Geir Brunborg, adding that the next round of data collection from the same adolescents is currently under way.
Funding
The study was funded by Forte, the Swedish Research Council for Health, Working Life and Welfare. The researchers declare no competing interests.
Publication
Brunborg, G.S., Zetterqvist, M., Bang, L. et al. Specific aspects of social media use and their associations with symptoms of five mental disorders among adolescents . Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health (2026). Published 17 October 2026.
