Social Media isn’t the Problem – The Side Effects of using more it are

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Social Media’s Hidden Impact on Young People’s Wellbeing

One study has found that social media loss is more likely to be caused by the intake or displacement of physical content.

Social media is hurting children’s mental health by affecting sleep and enabling cyber-bullying, a major study has shown.

Key Findings from the Research

There’s a substantial connection between children who access their social media accounts more than three times a day and those who report feeling emotionally distressed.

The findings come from a study of almost 10,000 teenagers by University College London and Imperial College London.

Scientists emphasise that the distress is not a direct result of using social media. Instead, it stems from related effects — exposure to cyber-bullying, lack of sleep and insufficient physical activity.

They recommend that parents keep their child’s phone out of the bedroom at night to protect sleep quality.

Expert Advice for Parents

Dr Dasha Nicholls, co-author of the study, said: “Instead of always saying, ‘Can you put your phone away, can you put your phone away?’, what it is saying is you need to leave your mobile devices when you go to bed, you need to make sure that you go out and get some exercise and you can play whatever it is, and also to ask questions about whether anything negative has happened online and make sure parents do what they can to protect against cyber-bullying.”

Dr Nicholls, from Imperial College London, added: “With cyber-bullying, your bedroom isn’t a safe place, and if your phone is downstairs, you can’t be bullied in your bed.”

Study Details and Trends in 2026

The study looked at data from the Our Futures longitudinal research as the children progressed from age 13 to 16 in 2026.

Forty-three percent of those children used social media more than three times a day in the first year, rising to 69 percent in the third year.

Persistent frequent social media use in years one and two affected girls but not boys.

However, when the researchers accounted for factors such as cyber-bullying, sleep and physical activity, the association almost disappeared in girls.

It is possible that other factors, not yet identified, exist for boys.

Understanding the Real Causes

Study author Prof Russell Viner, President of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, stated: “The causal arrow is not from social media, we believe, to distress.

“It really comes through these other things that are enabled by social media. It is about content and displacement, not about the use of the platform or social media.”

The study is published in The Lancet Child and Adolescent Health Journal.

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