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The Effects of Screen Time and Social Media on Overall Health

Tori Booth and Megan Whalen

Communication Studies Department, Longwood University

COMM 460 Communication Research

Dr. Ryan Stouffer

5/04/23
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Abstract

This research paper analyzes the correlation between social media, screen time, and

mental health. To answer this question, we constructed a survey of thirteen questions that took

approximately 2-3 minutes to complete. One hundred and forty-one respondents but after

reviewing responses, we ended up with 139 survey respondents. Our results showed that there

was a significant correlation between the amount of screen time consumed at night and sleep.

There was also a significant relationship between 18-24-year-olds and screen time usage at night.

The results also showed an insignificant relationship between social media usage and mental

health. The significance of our outcomes revealed that screen time usage at night could

negatively impact your sleep, but the relationship between social media and mental health was

not impacted. The implications of this study could be used to bring awareness to different mental

health disorders and their potential effects on sleep, social media, and screen time.

Keywords: Screen time, sleep, mental health, social media,

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The Effects of Screen Time and Social Media on Overall Health

Throughout this research study, we want to determine the correlation between the amount

of time spent (screen time) on social media and mental health. Social media is a big part of the

modern-day world and has many positive outcomes and downsides. The average screen time in

the United States was 2 hours and 14 minutes in 2021 (Buchholz, 2022.) Through our own

experience, the amount of screen time we consume through social media can harm mental health

disorders such as anxiety, depression, and insomnia, affecting sleep habits and overall health and

wellness.

We will use the uses and gratifications theory and displaced behavior theory to help

understand the relationship between social media screen time and mental health. Through these

theories, we plan to study different ways social media can affect adults of all ages, focusing the

most on the health repercussions of where media consumption takes place, how much media is

consumed, and how it affects overall health.

Throughout this literature review, we will discuss our communication phenomenon, the

constructs in our study, and how these connect to theories. Each construct is prevalent in our

study to discover what we aspire to find. The first thing we desire to discover is how screen time

affects how much sleep one receives and how mental health is affected overall. The second thing

we aspire to discover is how the environment where media is consumed could affect the amount

of sleep and mental health. The third thing we aspire to discover is what platforms media is

consumed on and how these platforms affect one's mental health. The fourth and final thing we

desire to find is what mental health issues arise from screen time usage.
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Literature Review

Our communication phenomenon is how the amount of screen time affects mental health.

Technology is a big part of our daily lives; many spend excessive time on social media. This can

disrupt sleep patterns, anxiety, and depression.

Screen-Time Spent on Cell Phones:

Our first construct is screen time on cell phones. This construct is essential for our

research because it will provide us with how screen time affects mental health and how much

sleep individuals receive. Increased screen time was associated with moderate or severe

depression among US adults (Madhav et al., 2017.) However, we believe the screen time spent

on social media is even worse than the average screen time.

Social media usage can affect someone's mental health (Strickland, 2014). Media can be

consumed from any place in the world. This construct is an essential part of our research. This

study focuses on time spent on social media applications, not traditional media consumption. For

example, we will focus on social media platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, YouTube,

Snapchat, Reddit, TikTok, Pinterest, and Twitter.

Where Media is Consumed - Active Consumption:

Our second construct is active consumption. This construct is based on where one's

media is consumed and how the environment could affect sleep and mental health. Electronic

media (tablets, phones, and computers) in bed was correlated with shorter sleep and more

symptoms of depression (Lemola et al., 2014.)

In our study, this construct is an interest in our findings. Researchers also found that

individuals in their study were using social media as an escape from reality and were receiving

gratifications from their own individual uses (Heinonen, 2011.) After discovering the
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connections between active consumption, the environment, and how individuals form

gratifications from their time spent on social media platforms, our incentive to dig deeper arose.

Different Social Media Platforms - What Platforms Media is Consumed on:

Our third construct concerns social media platforms. This construct will benefit our

research and data since we will have surveyed users aged 18+ on different platforms such as

Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, Snapchat, Reddit, TikTok, Pinterest, and Twitter. Social media

usage has already been correlated with social displacement and these social media platforms

(Adeyanju et al., 2021).

Every social media platform varies in use and effects. Since social media can be used

from any place in the world, we are interested in seeing if there is a correlation between what

platform one consumes media on and its effects on mental health. Existing research backs up this

claim, stating that users who consume the most media have the most mental health issues

(Soylemezoglu, 2022).

Mental Health Disorders:

Our fourth construct is different mental health disorders: anxiety, depression, insomnia,

and personality disorders. This construct will assist us in supporting there is a correlation

between the amount of screen time and mental health issues. There is a significant relationship

between mobile screen time and depressive symptoms among college students (Rosenthal et al.,

2021.)

With social media and technology playing such a significant role in our daily lives, it is

essential to discover the correlation between mental health issues and screen time usage. Studies

have found that 57% of teens using technology before bed suffer from sleep problems (Pacheco,
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2022). This construct will help us in our research to tell the correlations between mental health

disorders and the time spent on social media.

Theoretical Grounding

With social media being a prominent aspect of society, it is known that many individuals

utilize various applications to seek fulfillment and information and conquer boredom. The two

theories we use to provide a theoretical and logical basis for our research study are the uses and

gratifications theory and the displaced behavior theory. The uses and gratifications theory

regarding social media is how media users obtain their media needs, such as passing the time due

to boredom, seeking information, personal motives, and fulfillment (Falgoust et al., 2022). An

example of this theory would be a person who only obtains happiness from media consumption

and how it can harm one's mental health by potentially causing a negative relationship with

oneself.

The displaced behavior theory (also known as social displacement) is a theory that

focuses on the idea that connects the effects of social behavior to this theory (Hall & Liu, 2022).

An example of this would be a person who spends too much time consuming and socializing

through YouTube videos, so they have less desire to communicate with peers in person.

Hypothesis

Our hypotheses are based on the effects of our constructs on our subjects. We predict that

the more time a person consumes screen time, it will affect their sleep habits, and the amount of

social media consumed affects mental health. Numerous case studies provide additional research

into this subject, making us believe our hypotheses will stand valid. It was found that the longer

a person spent on screen time was directly related to poor sleep patterns. The longer a person
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consumed screen time during nighttime was related to poor sleep quality, decreased sleep

efficiency, and longer sleep onset latency (Christensen et al., 2016).

H1: The amount of screen time daily affects the amount of sleep a person gets at night.

The amount of screen time (IV) will affect the amount of time asleep and sleep quality (DV) at

night.

H2: The amount of social media usage daily directly affects mental health.

The higher someone's social media usage (IV) will show lower mental health rates (DV).

PH H1: The rates of screen time usage at night will be the highest amongst 18 to 24-

year-olds. The amount of screen time at night (IV) will be the highest in the 18-24-year-olds

(DV).
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Methodology

This section focuses on the methodology used for collecting data for our study. We

discuss our participant's demographics, measurements, and data collection techniques.

Participants

One hundred forty-one individuals took the survey; the final number after data clean-up

is N = 139. We deleted two responses due to inappropriate responses from our open-ended

question. Eighty percent of individuals are females, 18% are male, and 1.4% are transgender.

The average age is 24.49, the median age is 21, the mode age is 21, and the standard deviation is

11.1293.

Each of us made one Instagram story post with the link to our survey and sent our survey

links to our sorority group chats five times. We also texted 15 people individually with the link

to our survey. Lastly, we posted our survey five times in five different Facebook groups.

Measurement

We decided to use the likert scale to measure our dependent variables. We looked at

numerous research studies to help formulate our research questions. Specifically, we used a

research study using a positive mental health scale we decided to follow Lukat et al. (2016). We

decided to use the likert scale to measure our dependent variables.

Sleep quality, the H1 dependent variable on screen-time effects, has an acceptable α

coefficient of 0.73 on responses from 3 questions. In comparison, lower mental health rates, the

H2 dependent variable, has a poor α coefficient of 0.56 on responses from 3 questions.

Our open-ended question is, “In regards to the previous question, why or why not do you

think screen time interferes with the sleep you get at night?” We used grounded theory to
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categorize our data into five different categories. With our responses categorized, we used

descriptive statistics to determine what the data read.

There were not any responses to this question that did not make sense. We found that the

majority of all genders, at 39.3%, were placed in the distractions and time management category.

Our results are as follows:

● Distractions and time management: N=51 (36.4%)

● Blue-light and Overstimulation: N=34 (24.3%)

● Mental Health Disorders: N=5 (3.57%)

● No difference: N=34 (24.3%)

● Non-applicable: N=15 (10.7%)

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Results

This section focuses on the data collected during our study. For our likert scale questions,

we decided to flip the scale on some questions to ensure responses were consistent with other

answers to validate our data.

For open-ended response questions, we received a total of one hundred and forty-one

responses. However, after analysis, we removed two data points due to misleading responses,

ending in 139 total responses collected and analyzed.

Our H1 predicted that the more screen time consumed, the less sleep a person will get at

night. The Pearson correlation for the two variables was significant, r(137) = 0.16, p = .03, one-

tailed. Thus, the results showed a significant relationship.

Our H2 predicted that the more people use social media, the worse their mental health

will be. The Pearson correlation for the two variables was nonsignificant, r(137) = -0.04, p =.32,

one-tailed. Thus, the results did not show a significant relationship.

Our post hoc hypothesis is that the rates of screen time usage at night would be the

highest amongst the 18 to 24-year-old age group that completed our survey. The Pearson

correlation for the two variables was significant, r(108) = -0.27, p = .002, one-tailed. Thus, the

results showed a significant relationship.

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Discussion

This section focuses on interpreting the statistical data collected during our study

compared to the used constructs.

Screen Time Summary of Results

For our first construct, screen time on cell phones, we wanted to relate it to our first

hypothesis that the amount of screen time daily affects the amount of sleep a person gets at night.

We collected a significant correlation between sleep and screen time by interpreting this data set.

By means of this data interpretation, our hypothesis was somewhat correct. By looking at

this data set, we can determine the relationship between screen time and sleep to be negatively

impacted, but not noticeably.

The p-value of our one-tailed was .03, so it was hardly significant. In a distribution test

with the p-value of a two-tailed test being .059, we saw the results as a standard bell curve, with

a standard deviation of 1.004 and a z-value of 5.177. With a z-value of 5.177, we can conclude it

is five values away from the average.

Active vs. Passive Consumption Summary of Results

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With active vs. passive consumption, we had predicted that more screen time and social

media usage at night would lead to sleep and mental health issues. However, the data between

screen time and mental health proved insignificant. The results of a two-tailed test with a p-value

of .0595, the z-score of this data was found to be 5.173. The correlation for the two variables' p-

value was .32, one-tailed, thus proving that our hypothesis on sleep and mental health did not

correlate. By means of this data interpretation, our hypothesis was not correct. By looking at this

data set, we can determine no relationship between active and passive consumption and sleep

and mental health issues.

However, we also ran a test between social media and mental health. The correlation

between social media and mental health was a p-value of .007, indicating a strong positive

correlation. With the results of a two-tailed test with a p-value of .0159, the z-score of this data

was found to be 5.784.

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The results of these two tests show that our hypothesis was half correct. While we were

correct that there is a correlation between social media and mental health, there is no correlation

between sleep and mental health.

Different Social Media Applications Summary of Results:

Our H2 predicted that the more people use social media, the worse their mental health

will be. Within this construct, we predicted that consuming more social media would cause

worse mental health and longevity of sleep. Once testing this through the Pearson correlation, we

found this hypothesis insignificant.

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We wanted to dig deeper through one of our questions in the survey, “Are you concerned

with your amount of social media usage?” By making a histogram of the responses based on

gender, it shows that the females in our survey represent a bell curve. This represents a normal

distribution across the board of the female's responses, meaning they were similar. Although, the

male's responses show an inverted bell curve. This represents a bimodal distribution, meaning

their responses varied as a whole. Considering there were only 25 males that took our survey out

of 139, this could play a role in the variance of the male responses. Since only one transgender

person answered this question with “Neither agree nor disagree,” the data regarding transgender

people and social media use cannot be interpreted.

Different Mental Health Issues Summary of Results:

This construct was meant to see if there is a correlation between mental health disorders

and the time spent on social media. Our H2 DV relates to this construct that daily social media

usage directly affects mental health. After running the Pearson correlation to test this hypothesis,

we found it was non-significant with p= .32. Therefore, there was no correlation within our data

that the amount of social media usage affects one's mental health.

Post Hypothesis Analysis

For our post hypothesis, we wanted to test the relationship between screen time usage at

night and the age group of 18 to 24-year-olds. We predicted there would be a significant

correlation between the two.

Data collection revealed the p-value was .002, making the correlation statistically

significant and proving our original hypothesis correct. With 18 to 24-year-olds being the most

prevalent age group that took our survey, we assumed that this is also the age group with the

heaviest screen time usage at night. We were correct in this prediction which represents that
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screen time is more prevalent in their day-to-day lives in this age range compared to older age

groups.

Practical Implications

Overall, our implications about the data were primarily correct. However, the correct

implications were primarily our inferences about the relationship between screen time and sleep.

There was no relationship between active and passive consumption and sleep and mental health

issues, but there was a relationship between screen time and sleep. Along with an additional

analysis of age groups and screen time, it was found that 18-24-year-olds consume the highest

average of screen time per day.

We can conclude about these data implications that according to our literature review,

statistical evidence proved a significant relationship between how much time a person spends on

a screen versus how much sleep they get at night. In other words, the more time a person spends

on their cell phone at night, the less sleep they will get.

However, we also ended up finding that there is not a significant relationship at all

between social media and mental health, which diminished our second hypothesis. This means

that based on the people we surveyed. We had an insignificant, no correlation between these two

variables, which was surprising given previous research and statements in the literature review

section.

Limitations

After completing our survey, analyzing our data, and testing our hypotheses, we found

some limitations. One of our limitations is that our sample size is N=139, and 110 individuals

were between the ages of 18-24. This limited our research because 79% of our responses were
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within that age range. We could not run any tests within the other age groups because of the lack

of responses.

Another limitation we encountered was that there were 110 female responses, which is

more than half of our sample size. This made it more difficult to find correlations related to

gender.

We also needed better reliability for our dependent variable of mental health rates. As

stated above in the measurements section in methodology, the H2 dependent variable has a poor

α coefficient of 0.56 on responses from 3 questions, which means that our responses were too

similar, most likely a result of our sample size demographics.

Future Research

Individuals should obtain future research on this study by obtaining a broader and larger

sample size, additional constructs regarding mental health, and taking into account more social

media platforms.

It would also be beneficial for future researchers to ask in a study how much one's screen

time is each day and follow up with which application takes up most of their screen time. These

questions could provide researchers with the average number of screen time along with what

applications are utilized the most. This would be beneficial to explore for various reasons,

especially concerning sleep and mental health. Although, it is vital to remember that mental

health questions are sensitive and personal. We had one question related to mental health, which

made it difficult to support our hypothesis or find any correlations between screen time and

mental health.

Conclusion
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While the relationship between social media use, screen time, where media is consumed,

and mental health is complex and multifaceted, it is clear that all four of our constructs are

somewhat connected.

Within our survey, we found it challenging to correlate screen time and mental health

directly. Through our limitations, along with mental health being a complex topic to allude to in

our study, it can be hard to obtain responses regarding these types of questions. However, with

the responses we did get, we were able to conclude that while not all of the constructs relate to

one another, they all ended up with something in common: the more time a person spends

interacting with, watching something, etc., the more attached they will become, resulting in

direct correlations.
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Appendix

Survey Construction

1. What is your age? (Fill in the blank responses)

2. What is your gender identity?

a. Male

b. Female

c. Transgender

d. Non-Binary

e. Prefer not to say

f. Fill in the blank response

3. On a scale of 1-5, with one being strongly affected and five being barely effective, is your

screen time affecting your sleep at night?

4. On a scale of 1-5, with one being strongly disagree and five being strongly agree, do you

spend much of your screen time at night?

5. On a scale of 1-5, with one being strongly agree and five being strongly disagree, do you

get enough sleep at night?

6. In regards to the previous question, why or why not do you think screen time interferes

with the amount of sleep you get at night? (Open-ended)

7. On a scale of 1-5, with one being always and five being never, how often do you feel

sleepy in the daytime?

8. On a scale of 1-5, with one being never and five being always, how often has poor sleep

troubled you in the past month?

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9. On a scale of 1-5, with one being not concerned and five being extremely concerned, are

you concerned with your amount of social media usage?

10. On a scale of 1-5, with one being not important at all and five being extremely important,

do you think monitoring your social media usage is important?

11. On a scale of 1-5, with one being strongly disagree and five being strongly agree, are you

in good physical and emotional condition?

12. On a scale of 1-5, with one being strongly disagree and five being strongly agree, have

you been feeling fatigued lately?

13. On a scale of 1-5, with one being strongly disagree and five being strongly agree, do you

consider yourself to be in good mental health?