Journal of Affective Disorders 207 (2017) 163–166

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Journal of Affective Disorders

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jad

Social media use and anxiety in emerging adults

a,⁎ a,b a,c
crossmark
Anna Vannucci , Kaitlin M. Flannery , Christine McCauley Ohannessian
a
Center for Behavioral Health, Connecticut Children's Medical Center, 282 Washington Street, Hartford, CT 06106, USA
b
Department of Psychological Sciences, University of Connecticut, 406 Babbidge Road, Unit 1020, Storrs, CT 06269, USA
c
Department of Pediatrics and Psychiatry, University of Connecticut School of Medicine, 263 Farmington Avenue, Farmington, CT 06030, USA

A R T I C L E I N F O A BS T RAC T

Keywords: Introduction: Social media use is central to the lives of emerging adults, but the implications of social media
Anxiety use on psychological adjustment are not well understood. The current study aimed to examine the impact of
Anxiety disorder time spent using social media on anxiety symptoms and severity in emerging adults.
Social media Methods: Using a web-based recruitment technique, we collected survey information on social media use and
Online communication
anxiety symptoms and related impairment in a nationally representative sample of 563 emerging adults from
Emerging adults
the U.S. (18–22 years-old; 50.2% female; 63.3% Non-Hispanic White). Participants self-reported the amount of
Young adults
time they spent using various social media sites on an average day, and responded to anxiety questionnaires
Results: Hierarchical regression revealed that more time spent using social media was significantly associated
with greater symptoms of dispositional anxiety (B=0.74, 95% CI=0.59–0.90, p < 0.001), but was unrelated to
recent anxiety-related impairment (B=0.06, 95% CI=0.00–0.12, p=0.051), controlling for age, gender, race/
ethnicity, and education level. Logistic regression also revealed that more daily social media use was
significantly associated with a greater likelihood of participants scoring above the anxiety severity clinical
cut-off indicating a probable anxiety disorder (AOR=1.032, 95% CI=1.004–1.062, p=0.028).
Limitations: Study limitations include the cross-sectional design and reliance on self-report questionnaires.
Conclusions: Given the ubiquity of social media among emerging adults, who are also at high risk for anxiety
disorders, the positive association between social media use and anxiety has important implications for
clinicians. Gaining a more nuanced understanding of this relationship will help to inform novel approaches to
anxiety treatment.

1. Introduction
Anxiety is common among U.S. adults, with emerging adulthood
representing a high-risk period for the onset of several anxiety
disorders (Kessler et al., 2012). Anxiety disorders represent the second
leading cause of disability among all psychiatric disorders, with the
burden peaking during emerging and early adulthood (Whiteford et al.,
2013). At the individual level, anxiety disorders are associated with
significant psychiatric and medical comorbidities and role impairments
in occupational and social domains (Costello et al., 2005). Societal
costs are also extensive, as the annual U.S. expenditures from anxiety
disorders are estimated to exceed $42–47 billion (Whiteford et al.,
2013). Given the substantial burden attributable to anxiety disorders,
increasing knowledge on factors associated with anxiety in emerging
adults is crucial to enhancing developmental risk models and develop-
ing novel interventions.
Social media, which refers to internet applications that enable users
to generate and exchange content with others (e.g., Facebook; Kaplan
and Haenlein, 2010), has become central to the lives of emerging
adults. Approximately 90% of young adults use social media, with the
majority using two or more social media sites and visiting these sites
daily (Perrin, 2015). The ubiquity of social media in the lives of
emerging adults has led to an increasing interest in understanding the
impact of social media on their psychological adjustment. Social media
may serve as a key context through which emerging adults negotiate
important developmental tasks, including identity development and
maintaining social connections (Moreno and Whitehill, 2014).
Advancements in identity formation and increases in social support
achieved through social media use may enhance psychological well-
being. However, social media use has the potential to function as a
source of stress or reinforce negative self-evaluations when individuals
receive undesirable feedback from others or engage in negative social
comparisons (Nesi and Prinstein, 2015). The immersive experience
created by the numerous distracting features of social media sites also
may facilitate avoidant coping strategies and social isolation (Moreno
and Whitehill, 2014), which may promote psychopathology.

⁎
Corresponding author.
E-mail address: AVannucci@connecticutchildrens.org (A. Vannucci).

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2016.08.040
Received 6 June 2016; Received in revised form 27 July 2016; Accepted 24 August 2016
Available online 03 October 2016
0165-0327/ © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
A. Vannucci et al.
Little is known about the relationship between social media use and
anxiety. One study found that individuals in a Norwegian community
sample of late adolescents and adults (16–88 years) endorsing more
signs of addictive social media use reported more anxiety symptoms
(Schou Andreassen et al., 2016). In another study comprising mostly
female (88%) U.S. undergraduates, a subset (~17%) of participants
reported that using Facebook made them feel anxious, and nearly half
reported delaying responses to friend requests due to anxiety (Campisi
et al., 2012). Finally, one study failed to find a relationship between
Facebook use frequency and ratings of worry in a small sample of
young adults (Kross et al., 2013). No known studies have examined
whether a broader range of social media use is related to anxiety. The
homogenous and localized nature of the samples in these initial studies
further limits their generalizability. The present study, therefore, aimed
to investigate the association between social media use and anxiety
symptomatology in a large, nationally representative sample of U.S.
emerging adults. It was hypothesized that more daily social media use
would be associated with elevated dispositional anxiety symptoms and
more severe recent anxiety-related impairment.
2. Methods
2.1. Participants
Participants were a nationally representative sample of emerging
adults (Age: M=20.00, SD=1.42 years; 50.2% female). The racial/
ethnic breakdown of the sample was: 63.3% Non-Hispanic White,
13.5% African American, 12.1% Hispanic/Latino, 7.6% Asian, and
3.5% Other. The sample composition of participants’ highest level of
education completed was: 4.0% less than high school, 56.4% high
school, 29.5% two years of college, 8.5% four years of college, and
1.5% graduate school. The gender and race/ethnicity demographics
of the current study closely mirror those of the U.S. population based
on the 2014 U.S. Census data (50.8% Female; 77.1% Non-Hispanic
White, 13.3% Black or African American, 17.6% Hispanic, 5.6%
Asian) (U.S. Census Bureau, 2014), which is the year in which data
were collected.
2.2. Procedure
Participants were enrolled in the study through Lightspeed GMI, a
web-based recruiting company specializing in global market research.
The company recruits participants for their panels using multiple
outlets (e-mails, social media, banner advertisements, and affiliates),
which has been effective in recruiting diverse panels nationwide.
Registered panelists who met the criteria of being 18–22 years-old
and residing in the U.S. were sent invitations to complete the online
survey. Lightspeed GMI used the response rate of the panels to
determine the appropriate amount of invitations to send in order to
garner 600 complete surveys, evenly split by gender and age. To ensure
high quality data, digital fingerprint technology was used to eliminate
duplicate responses from the same participant and validity checks were
included to confirm survey engagement (e.g., tracking completion rates
of each page of the survey and insufficient effort response items).
Participants received 100 GMI MarketPoints ($5 value) for completing
the survey. Participants provided informed consent. All procedures
were approved by the Connecticut Children's Medical Center
Institutional Review Board.
2.3. Measures
The Technology Use Questionnaire (Ohannessian, 2009) as-
sessed how much time participants spent using specific media
platforms on an average/typical day. The response options included:
0=none, 0.5=less than one hour, 1=about one hour, 2=about 2 h,
3=about 3 h, and 4=four or more hours. Platforms characterized as
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Journal of Affective Disorders 207 (2017) 163–166
social media by the Pew Research Center (Perrin, 2015) were
assessed, including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, Vine,
Tumblr, YouTube, and Google+. Time spent using each platform was
summed across the items to indicate the total amount of time social
media was used on a daily basis. The internal consistency of the total
social media use score was good in the current study (Cronbach's
α=0.86). The item-total correlations suggested that each item was
strongly and positively associated with the total social media use
score (rs=0.60–0.80, ps < 0.001).
The Beck Anxiety Inventory-Trait (BAI-T; Kohn et al., 2008)
assessed dispositional anxiety symptoms. Participants were instructed
to rate how much, in general, they are bothered by 21 problems on a
day-to-day basis. Example items include: terrified or afraid, feeling
nervous, and numbness or tingling. The response options included:
Rarely or Never (0), Occasionally (1), Often (2) and Almost Always
(3). The BAI-T has been shown to be a valid and reliable measure of
dispositional anxiety symptoms (Kohn et al., 2008). In the current
study, Cronbach's α was 0.96.
The Overall Anxiety Severity and Impairment Scale (OASIS;
Norman et al., 2006) assessed the frequency, severity/intensity, and
functional impairment related to anxiety and fear during the last week.
Participants were asked to rate how often they felt anxious, the
intensity and severity of their anxiety, frequency of avoidance due to
anxiety or fear, and how much anxiety interfered with their relation-
ships and ability to do things at work, school, or home. Each item was
rated on a 5-point scale, with responses ranging from Little or None (0)
to Extreme or All the Time (4). Higher scores indicate more severe
recent anxiety-related impairment. Eight has been recommended as a
cut-off score to differentiate those who have an anxiety disorder from
those who do not (Moore et al., 2015). The OASIS has demonstrated
strong psychometric properties (Norman et al., 2006). In our sample,
Cronbach's α was 0.90.
2.4. Analytic plan
The skew and kurtosis were satisfactory for all continuous
variables. To test the association between social media use and
anxiety, two separate hierarchical regression analyses were run with
dispositional anxiety symptoms and recent anxiety-related impair-
ment as dependent variables. Age, gender, race, and education level
were included in the first step as covariates. Daily social media use
was included in the second step as the independent variable. A
comparable logistic regression model examined whether social
media use was associated with the likelihood that a person's anxiety
severity and impairment score fell above the clinical cut-off for a
probable anxiety disorder. Analyses were run using SPSS version 24
(SPSS, Inc., Chicago, IL, USA). All tests were two-tailed, and p
values < 0.05 were considered statistically significant.
3. Results
Data from 563 emerging adults were included. A wide range of
anxiety symptoms (M=12.21, SD=12.62; Range: 0–63) and anxiety
severity (M=4.69, SD=4.78; Range: 0–20) was represented.
Participants reported spending an average of 6.63 (SD=6.44) hours
using social media on a typical day. Males reported higher daily
social media use than females (Males: M=7.41, SD=7.31 vs.
Females: M=5.86, SD=5.36 h; p=0.004). Social media use was not
significantly associated with age, race/ethnicity, or educational
status (ps > 0.05).
The fully adjusted hierarchical regression models accounted for
13.7% of the variance in dispositional anxiety symptoms, F(547)
=18.52, p < 0.001, and 2.6% of the variance in recent anxiety-related
impairment, F(558)=4.04, p=0.001, respectively. Higher daily social
media use was significantly associated greater dispositional anxiety
symptoms (B=0.74, 95%CI=0.59–0.90, p < 0.001; Table 1), but was
A. Vannucci et al. Journal of Affective Disorders 207 (2017) 163–166

Table 1
Results from hierarchical regression examining the association between total daily social media use and dispositional anxiety symptoms.

Predictor variable B 95% CI (B) β F/t statistic p value Δ R2 Adj. R2

Step 1 0.46 0.77 0.003 −0.004

Constant 21.58 5.98–37.19 – 2.72 0.007
Age −0.36 −1.17–0.44 −0.04 −0.89 0.37
Gender −0.30 −2.45–1.85 −0.01 −0.27 0.79
Race/ethnicity −0.34 −1.29–0.61 −0.03 −0.71 0.48
Education status −0.26 −1.71–1.20 −0.02 −0.35 0.73
Step 2 18.52 < 0.001 0.141 0.137
Constant 12.07 −2.53–26.67 – 1.62 0.11
Age −0.22 −0.96–0.52 −0.03 −0.58 0.56
Gender 0.80 −1.21–2.81 0.03 0.78 0.44
Race/ethnicity −0.60 −1.48–0.28 −0.05 −1.32 0.19
Education status −0.13 −1.48–1.22 −0.01 −0.19 0.85
Social media U 0.74 0.59–0.90 0.38 9.51 < 0.001

Notes: B=unstandardized regression coefficient; CI=confidence interval; β=standardized regression coefficient; F=obtained F-value for the regression model; t=obtained t-value for each
predictor variable; p=probability; R2=proportion of variance explained.

Table 2
Results from hierarchical regression examining the association between total daily social media use and recent anxiety-related impairment.

Predictor variable B 95% CI (B) β F/t statistic p value Δ R2 Adj. R2

Step 1 4.08 0.003 0.028 0.021

Constant 5.60 −0.19–11.40 – 1.90 0.06
Age −0.11 −0.42–0.19 −0.03 −0.74 0.46
Gender 1.19 0.40–1.98 0.12 2.96 0.003
Race/ethnicity −0.41 −0.76 to −0.06 −0.10 −2.31 0.02
Education status 0.09 −0.47–0.64 0.01 0.30 0.76
Step 2 4.04 0.001 0.007 0.026
Constant 4.81 −1.02–10.65 – 1.62 0.11
Age −0.10 −0.40–0.20 −0.03 −0.65 0.52
Gender 1.28 0.49–2.07 0.13 3.17 0.002
Race/ethnicity −0.43 −0.78 to −0.08 −0.10 −2.42 0.02
Education status 0.08 −0.47–0.64 0.01 0.29 0.77
Social media Use 0.06 0.00–0.12 0.08 1.96 0.051

Notes: B=unstandardized regression coefficient; CI=confidence interval; β=standardized regression coefficient; F=obtained F-value for the regression model; t=obtained t-value for each
predictor variable; p=probability; R2=proportion of variance explained.

associated with recent anxiety-related impairment only at a trend level 4. Discussion

(B=0.06, 95%CI=0.00–0.12, p=0.051; Table 2).1
The fully adjusted logistic regression model for recent anxiety-
related impairment was significant, χ2(5,N=563)=16.11, p=0.007. The
model explained between 2.8% (Cox and Snell R2) and 4.1%
(Nagelkerke R2) of the variance in anxiety disorder classification.
Greater social media use was associated with increased odds of
participants reporting the presence of a probable anxiety disorder,
Wald χ2(1,N=563)=4.85, p=0.028; AOR=1.032, 95%CI=1.004–1.062.
Exploratory post-hoc analyses investigated gender x social media
use interactions since significant gender differences were observed for
social media use and recent anxiety-related impairment. There were no
significant interactions in relation to dispositional anxiety symptoms,
t(550)=−0.94, p=0.35, ΔR2=0.001, or recent anxiety-related impair-
ment, regardless of whether impairment was considered continuously,
t(561)=0.13, p=0.90, ΔR2=0.000, or dichotomously, Wald χ2(1,N=563)
=0.05, p=0.83, ΔR2=0.000.
1
Analyses were also conducted using a social media use total score that did not include
YouTube, as this social media platform is primarily used for passively viewing videos and
does not possess the same interactive qualities of other platforms. The overall pattern of
results remained the same. Results from hierarchical regression revealed that more time
spent using social media was significantly associated with greater symptoms of disposi-
tional anxiety (B=0.84, 95% CI=0.67–1.01, p < 0.001) and recent anxiety-related
impairment (B=0.07, 95% CI=0.001–0.14, p=0.046), controlling for age, gender, race/
ethnicity, and education level. Logistic regression also revealed that more daily social
media use was significantly associated with a greater likelihood of participants scoring
above the anxiety-related impairment clinical cut-off indicating a probable anxiety
disorder (AOR=1.04, 95% CI=1.01–1.07, p=0.024), controlling for age, gender, race/
ethnicity, and education level.
The goal of the present study was to examine the association
between social media use and anxiety. Findings suggested that higher
daily social media use was associated with greater dispositional anxiety
symptoms and an increased likelihood of having a probable anxiety
disorder in a nationally representative sample of U.S. emerging adults.
Although some studies have found that social media use is unrelated to
worry, perceived stress, or social evaluative fears (Kross et al., 2013;
Hampton et al., 2014; Muench et al., 2015), current findings are
consistent with prior research demonstrating a positive association
between social media use and anxiety/stress (Campisi et al., 2012;
Morin-Major et al., 2016; Schou Andreassen et al., 2016).
One hypothesis is that social media sites may serve as a source of
stress that contribute to elevated anxiety symptoms and related
impairment in emerging adults. Indeed, Facebook use has been
associated with activation of the physiological stress response (Mauri
et al., 2011). Facets of social media use that may directly elicit stress
responses include: (1) receiving negative feedback or cyber-bullying
from peers; (2) becoming more aware of stressful events occurring in
other people's lives; and (3) internalizing the pressure to maintain
social network updates (Valkenburg and Peter, 2009; Hampton et al.,
2014; Rose and Tynes 2015). Social media use also could contribute to
a general communication overload as individuals are bombarded
simultaneously with information from multiple electronic channels,
which has been associated with psychological distress (Chen and Lee,
2013). Finally, exposure to social media has been shown to trigger
negative social comparisons such as believing that others are happier
and have better lives (Chou and Edge, 2012), which may promote

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A. Vannucci et al.
anxiety symptoms and cause interference in daily functioning.
It is also possible that emerging adults with elevated anxiety
symptomatology and more severe impairment tend to engage in more
social media use. Individuals with anxiety may engage in excessive
reassurance seeking to validate their self-worth or reduce intolerable
feelings of uncertainty/worry through posting on social media sites
more frequently to obtain comments and “likes” (Clerkin et al., 2013).
Anxious individuals also may turn to social media frequently as a
primary means of communication (vs. in-person interactions) to
regulate fears related to social evaluation and anticipated rejection
(Valkenburg and Peter, 2009). As such, social media use may enable
emerging adults with anxiety to take advantage of its psychosocial
benefits, such as bolstering social support (Moreno and Whitehill,
2014). Alternatively, social media may function as a maladaptive
coping strategy, as individuals may use social media sites to avoid
real-world stressors via their distracting features or to ruminate
excessively through “cyber-stalking” or posting about their problems.
Research is required to clarify how and why emerging adults with
anxiety engage with social media.
The current study provided novel, clinically important information
regarding the association between social media use and anxiety in
emerging adults. Additional strengths include the large, nationally
representative sample of U.S. emerging adults, the assessment of a
wide range of social media sites, and the use of well-validated anxiety
measures that had minimal overlap with depressive symptoms.
However, the cross-sectional design limits conclusions that can be
drawn regarding directionality or causality. Prospective studies are
needed to determine whether social media use serves as a causal risk
factor for anxiety symptoms and anxiety-related impairment and to
investigate the impact of anxiety on social media use. The current study
relied upon self-report questionnaires to assess social media use and
anxiety due to the logistics of sample recruitment. Additionally, the
OASIS cutoff score used to indicate a probable anxiety disorder was
identified based on a diagnostic interview that was not previously
psychometrically evaluated. An important next step would be to utilize
objective measures of social media use and structured clinical inter-
views that evaluate specific facets of anxiety symptoms and related
impairment. A more nuanced assessment of social media use, such as
motivations for using social networking sites (e.g., information,
entertainment, social interaction, self-presentation) and how indivi-
duals engage with social media platforms (e.g., passively viewing
information, posting text, photos, or videos, communicating with
others), is also important for advancing theoretical models regarding
the relationship between social media and anxiety and developing
targeted intervention strategies.
The positive associations between social media use and anxiety that
were found in the current study have important clinical implications.
Not only should social media use be incorporated into broader clinical
evaluations when assessing anxiety in emerging adults, but the manner
in which social media is being used to cope with anxiety should be
considered. By considering the negative and positive aspects of social
media use, novel anxiety treatments may be developed that promote
the use of more positive features of social media while discouraging
those behaviors that tend to be most maladaptive. Given the ubiquity of
social media use, and the likelihood of it continuing to play a large role
in the lives of emerging adults, harnessing the power of social media in
the treatment of anxiety will be an important goal for clinicians.
Conflicts of interest
The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.
Funding
This work was supported by the Connecticut Children's Medical
166
Journal of Affective Disorders 207 (2017) 163–166
Center.
Contributions
AV and KF conceptualized the aims and hypotheses for the study
and conducted analyses. AV took primary responsibility for drafting the
introduction, results, discussion, and tables. KF assisted with data
collection and drafted the methods section. CO designed the original
study as principal investigator, collected the data, and provided feed-
back on the conceptual direction and text of the manuscript. All
authors have approved the final article.
Acknowledgements
We would like to thank all of the participants who dedicated their
time to completing this study.
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