Matthews, Timothy ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9955-6524, Arseneault, Louise, Bryan, Bridget T., Fisher, Helen L., Gray, Rebecca, Henchy, Joanne, Moffitt, Terrie E. and Odgers, Candice L. (2025) Social media use, online experiences, and loneliness among young adults: a cohort study. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences. ISSN 0077-8923 (Print), 1749-6632 (Online) (In Press)

PDF (Author's Accepted Manuscript) 50223 MATTHEWS_Social_Media_Use_Loneliness_Among_Young_Adults_(AAM)_2025.pdf - Accepted Version Restricted to Repository staff only Download (901kB) | Request a copy

Abstract

This study investigated patterns of digital technology use and their associations with loneliness in a cohort of 1,632 young adults (mean age 26) in the UK, who had been followed prospectively since childhood by the Environmental Risk Longitudinal Twin Study. Data were collected via an online survey in 2019-2020. Although overall time spent online was associated with greater loneliness, this was not the case for social media usage specifically. Use of social media platforms (e.g. Facebook, Instagram, Twitter) showed no association with loneliness. Instead, greater loneliness was associated with use of Reddit and dating apps, while use of WhatsApp was associated with lower loneliness. However, individuals who reported more compulsive use of digital technology, or experiences of online victimisation, were lonelier on average, suggesting that the types of experiences individuals encounter online may be more related to loneliness than using particular platforms per se. Associations were robust to controls for prior history of depression or anxiety at age 18. Moreover, findings remained broadly consistent between those who participated before versus during COVID-19 lockdown measures. An exception was that certain types of media characterised by passive consumption were associated with loneliness prior to, but not during lockdown.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	loneliness, social media, digital technology, young adulthood, cybervictimisation, COVID-19
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > H Social Sciences (General) H Social Sciences > HM Sociology H Social Sciences > HV Social pathology. Social and public welfare
Faculty / School / Research Centre / Research Group:	Faculty of Education, Health & Human Sciences Faculty of Education, Health & Human Sciences > Institute for Lifecourse Development Faculty of Education, Health & Human Sciences > Institute for Lifecourse Development > Centre for Mental Health Faculty of Education, Health & Human Sciences > School of Human Sciences (HUM)
Last Modified:	16 Apr 2025 09:35
URI:	http://gala.gre.ac.uk/id/eprint/50223

Actions (login required)

View Item

Downloads