A recent study published in BMJ indicates that adolescents engaging in social media are more prone to adopting hazardous health behaviors, including increased alcohol, drug, and tobacco use, antisocial conduct, risky sexual behavior, and gambling. The research emphasizes that exposure to content promoting risky health behaviors on social media, such as alcohol advertisements, poses the most significant risk, especially concerning alcohol consumption and unhealthy eating.
While social media has rapidly grown and is increasingly viewed as a tool for health promotion, concerns have arisen regarding its potential influence on teenagers’ risky health habits. Prior assessments have highlighted negative associations between social media and various dangerous behaviors. However, these studies primarily focused on university and college students, did not specifically investigate social media, and lacked an evaluation of study quality.
To address this gap, researchers delved into the connection between social media use and risky health behaviors in adolescents aged 10 to 19. The analysis incorporated over 250 social media measures from 73 studies conducted between 1997 and 2022, encompassing 1.4 million adolescents with an average age of 15. Most studies were conducted in high-income countries, displaying varying quality, but the researchers utilized the GRADE system to assess the certainty of evidence.
The study identified that exposure to risky health behavior content on social media, particularly related to unhealthy eating and alcohol use, had the most robust evidence of harm compared to no exposure. Stronger associations with alcohol consumption were observed in adolescents aged 16 and older and with exposure to user-generated content rather than marketer-generated content. Additionally, spending at least 2 hours daily on social media doubled the odds of alcohol consumption compared to those with less than 2 hours of use.
While the researchers acknowledge limitations, such as the reliance on personal recall for social media measures and the potential influence of unmeasured factors like parental health behaviors, they stress the importance of precaution across academic, governmental, health, and educational sectors. They suggest that safeguards for adolescents’ use of social media in a digital world are still evolving, and a comprehensive understanding of the risks necessitates ongoing investigation.
