Canadian Journal of Public Health (2023) 114:642–650

https://doi.org/10.17269/s41997-023-00754-9

QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH

The association between social media use and physical activity

among Canadian adolescents: a Health Behaviour in School‑aged
Children (HBSC) study
Brandon Morningstar1,2 · Zahra Clayborne1,3 · Suzy L. Wong4 · Karen C. Roberts1 · Stephanie A. Prince1,2 ·
Geneviève Gariépy1,5 · Gary S. Goldfield6 · Ian Janssen7 · Justin J. Lang1,2,6

Received: 2 September 2022 / Accepted: 7 February 2023 / Published online: 15 March 2023
© Crown 2023

Abstract
Objective To determine the association between social media use (SMU) and physical activity (PA) among Canadian
adolescents.
Methods We used data from 12,358 participants in grades 6 to 10 who responded to the Canadian component of the
2017/2018 Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) survey. Social media intensity and problematic SMU were
assessed using a 4-point mutually exclusive scale that contained three categories based on intensity (non-active, active, and
intense SMU) and one category based on the presence of addiction-like symptoms irrespective of intensity (problematic
SMU). PA was assessed for five domains (i.e., school curriculum, organized sport, exercise, outdoor play, and active transport)
and dichotomized using the first quartile to represent high PA engagement in each domain. Meeting PA recommendation of
60 min per day of moderate-to-vigorous PA was calculated using the sum of the five domains. Logistic regression models
were used to assess the association between SMU and PA, with active SMU used as the reference group for all models.
Results Non-active SMU was associated with lower odds of meeting the daily PA recommendations and of high engage-
ment in all five domains of PA when compared to active SMU. Intense SMU was associated with higher odds of meeting
the daily PA recommendations. Problematic SMU was not associated with meeting daily PA recommendations, but it was
significantly associated with lower odds of high PA engagement in the exercise domain.
Conclusion The findings of this study suggest that non-active SMU was significantly associated with lower PA levels. Prob-
lematic SMU was only significantly associated with lower PA levels in the exercise domain. Intense SMU was associated
with higher odds of meeting the PA recommendation.

Résumé
Objectif Établir la relation entre l’utilisation des médias sociaux et l’activité physique chez les adolescents canadiens.
Méthodes Nous avons utilisé les données de 12 358 participants de la ­6e à la ­10e année qui ont répondu au volet canadien de
l’Enquête sur les comportements de santé des jeunes d’âge scolaire de 2017–2018 (HBSC). L’intensité des médias sociaux
et leur utilisation problématique ont été évaluées à l’aide d’une échelle à quatre points mutuellement exclusifs contenant
trois catégories basées sur l’intensité (utilisation non active, active et intense des médias sociaux) et une catégorie basée sur

4
Centre for Health Promotion, Public Health Agency
* Justin J. Lang of Canada, Ottawa, ON, Canada
justin.lang@phac-aspc.gc.ca
5
School of Public Health, University of Montreal, Montreal,
1
Centre for Surveillance and Applied Research, Public Health QC, Canada
Agency of Canada, 785 Carling Ave, Ottawa, ON K1A 0K9, 6
Healthy Active Living and Obesity Research Group,
Canada Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario Research Institute,
2
School of Epidemiology and Public Health, Faculty Ottawa, ON, Canada
of Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada 7
School of Kinesiology and Health Studies, Department
3
Department of Pediatrics, Cumming School of Medicine, of Public Health Sciences, Queen’s University, Kingston,
University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada ON, Canada

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Canadian Journal of Public Health (2023) 114:642–650 643

la présence de symptômes de dépendance indépendamment de l’intensité (utilisation problématique des médias sociaux).
L’activité physique a été évaluée pour cinq domaines (c’est-à-dire le programme scolaire, le sport organisé, l’exercice, le jeu
en plein air et le transport actif) et dichotomisée en utilisant le premier quartile pour représenter la participation à une activité
physique élevée dans chaque domaine. Le respect de la recommandation de 60 min par jour d’activité physique modérée à
vigoureuse a été calculé en utilisant la somme des cinq domaines. Des modèles de régression logistique ont été utilisés pour
évaluer la relation entre l’utilisation des médias sociaux et l’activité physique, l’utilisation active des médias sociaux étant
utilisée comme groupe de référence pour tous les modèles.
Résultats L’utilisation non active des médias sociaux était associée à une probabilité plus faible de respecter les
recommandations en matière d’activité physique quotidienne et à une participation élevée dans les cinq domaines de l’activité
physique, par rapport à l’utilisation active des médias sociaux. Une utilisation intense des médias sociaux était associée à
une probabilité plus élevée de respecter les recommandations en matière d’activité physique quotidienne. Une utilisation
problématique des médias sociaux n’était pas associée au respect des recommandations en matière d’activité physique
quotidienne, mais elle était fortement associée à une probabilité moindre de participation élevée à une activité physique
dans le domaine de l’exercice.
Conclusion Les résultats de cette étude suggèrent que l’utilisation non active des médias sociaux est fortement associée à
des niveaux d’activité physique plus faibles. Une utilisation problématique des médias sociaux n’était fortement associée à
des niveaux d’activité physique plus faibles que dans le domaine de l’exercice. Une utilisation intense des médias sociaux
était associée à une probabilité plus élevée de respecter la recommandation en matière d’activité physique.

Keywords Exercise · Adolescent · Adolescent behaviour · Social media · Internet addiction disorder

Mots‑clés Exercice · adolescent · comportement des adolescents · médias sociaux · trouble de dépendance à l’Internet

Introduction media use with a combined scale that incorporated inten-

The effects of excessive and problematic exposure to screen
time on adolescent well-being, health, and development
have previously been described in the literature (Lissak,
2018; Odgers et al., 2020; Przybylski & Weinstein, 2017).
These studies investigated the association between the time
spent on screens (e.g., phones or computers) and the nega-
tive effects on adolescent health and development (Lissak,
2018; Przybylski & Weinstein, 2017). However, recent stud-
ies have further scrutinized screen time use by how adoles-
cents are interacting with screens, including what they con-
tribute and gain from screen time use (Odgers et al., 2020).
As such, different forms of screen time use, such as active,
passive, educational, or social use, have been examined in
the literature, specifically their effect on adolescent well-
being and health behaviours (Sanders et al., 2019; Stiglic &
Viner, 2019). With the growing presence and use of social
media, there is concern surrounding its influence on adoles-
cent well-being, health, and development (Uhls et al., 2017).
Social media can be defined as internet-based appli-
cations that facilitate the exchange of messages or user-
generated content for the purpose of social connectedness,
entertainment, or education (Kaess, 2020; Smahel et al.,
2020). In 2017, approximately one third of Canadian ado-
lescents reported using social media almost all the time
throughout the day to communicate with others (Public
Health Agency of Canada [PHAC], 2020). More recently,
a study by Boniel-Nissim et al. (2022) characterized social
sity (i.e., frequency) and problematic symptoms related to
social media use. The previously validated social media use
scale differentiated between non-active, active, intense, and
problematic use, an approach that isolates problematic users
regardless of intensity level (Boer et al., 2022). The differ-
entiation between the presence of addiction-like symptoms
(i.e., problematic social media use) and intensity of social
media use is hypothesized to improve the mixed and conflict-
ing research base on the association between social media and
adolescent health and well-being (Boniel-Nissim et al., 2022).
With the increasing use of social media by adolescents,
there is concern in regard to the extent it may have on all
aspects of health, including health behaviours (Shimoga
et al., 2019). Regular physical activity is important for ado-
lescent development and health (Janssen & LeBlanc, 2010),
although few Canadian youth attain the recommended
amount of at least 60 min of daily moderate-to-vigorous
intensity physical activity (MVPA) (Centre for Surveillance
and Applied Research, 2021).
While not solely responsible, social media use may
influence physical activity and overall health in a multidi-
rectional manner. The relationship between social media
use and physical activity is complex (Maher et al., 2016;
Shimoga et al., 2019; Viner et al., 2019), with current
literature outlining several theories. The first, and old-
est theory, is the direct effect of time spent using social
media displaces time away from physical activity (i.e.,
the displacement theory), displacing socializing, or by

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644
displacing or increasing other behaviours that can influ-
ence physical activity (e.g., sleep, school work, and sed-
entary time) (Hall & Liu, 2022; Viner et al., 2019). A
second non-competing theory is that normative social
media use is not detrimental to adolescent health and
well-being. This has previously been described as the
digital Goldilocks theory, wherein moderate social media
use is not intrinsically harmful and overuse and underuse
may limit the ability of adolescents to access social infor-
mation or engage with peers (Boniel-Nissim et al., 2022;
Przybylski & Weinstein, 2017). Going one step further,
it is hypothesized that it is not necessarily overuse that
is detrimental, but instead, it is problematic social media
use (i.e., addiction-like symptoms toward social media)
that negatively influences adolescent health (Boer et al.,
2021, 2022; Boniel-Nissim et al., 2022).
While previous studies have investigated the asso-
ciation between social media use and physical activ-
ity (Rutter et al., 2021; Shimoga et al., 2019; Viner
et al., 2019), none have done so using a social media use
scale that includes a distinction between intensity and
problematic use. Social media use has been previously
defined as frequency of visiting different social media
networks (Shimoga et al., 2019; Viner et al., 2019),
frequency of checking and posting on social media net-
works (Rutter et al., 2021), or frequency of contact with
others on social media (Boniel-Nissim et al., 2022).
There is also a discrepancy scale used in some stud-
ies, where the highest reportable frequency ranges from
“every day” (Shimoga et al., 2019) to “almost all the
time throughout the day” (Boniel-Nissim et al., 2022)
or “almost constantly” (Rutter et al., 2021). In these
studies, there was no discernment between frequency of
use and presence of symptoms of addiction-like symp-
toms, likely contributing to the conflicting and varying
theories on the relationship between social media use
and physical activity. Furthermore, applying the four-
level scale of social media use exposure, as proposed by
Boniel-Nissim et al. (2022), could provide an opportu-
nity to test the displacement and the digital Goldilocks
theories as they relate to physical activity.
As such, the objective of this study was to examine the
association between the four-level exposure categories of
social media use and meeting physical activity recommen-
dations. The secondary objective was to assess the associa-
tions between social media use categories and engagement
in physical activity across different domains (i.e., school cur-
riculum, organized sport, exercise, outdoor play, and active
transport). We hypothesized that both non-active and prob-
lematic social media use would be significantly and nega-
tively associated with physical activity, as suggested by the
digital Goldilocks theory.
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Canadian Journal of Public Health (2023) 114:642–650
Methods
HBSC Canada overview
This study used data from the Canadian component of
the 2017/2018 Health Behaviour in School-aged Children
(HBSC) survey. There are currently 51 participating coun-
tries or regions in North America and Europe. Participating
countries or regions conducted the HBSC survey in their
respective country or region using the same survey meth-
ods and questionnaire (Inchley et al., 2018). The Canadian
HBSC is representative of approximately 93% of Canadian
adolescents, with those in private or special schools, on
First Nation or Inuit reservations, not in school, or incar-
cerated excluded from the study (PHAC, 2020). HBSC
Canada used a random two-stage cluster sampling approach
to recruit a nationally representative sample of students in
grades 6 to 10 (typically ages 11 to 16). During the first
stage, school jurisdictions were identified and clustered
according to language of instruction, religious designa-
tion, and community size (PHAC, 2020). During the second
stage, a list of eligible schools were identified in each clus-
ter, and schools in these clusters were randomly selected
to participate in the study. Recruitment and data collection
for the Canadian HBSC study took place between January
and May of 2018. The Public Health Agency of Canada
(REB-2013–0022) and Queen’s University Research Ethics
Board (6027003) granted ethics approval for the Canadian
component of the HBSC. Participation in this study was
voluntary and informed consent was obtained from school
administrators, parents or guardians, and students following
local protocols.
Study sample
A total of 21,745 students from 287 schools participated
in the Canadian component of the 2017/2018 cycle of the
HBSC. Adolescents who identified gender as “neither term
describes me” were excluded due to sample size (n = 336).
An additional 9051 were excluded due to missing or incom-
plete entries. The majority of excluded entries were the
result of incomplete or missing responses to the frequency
of social media use and problematic social media use ques-
tions (n = 6087; 67.3%). A detailed comparison between
excluded and included participants is available in Supple-
mental Table 1. These exclusions resulted in a final sample
size of 12,358 students with complete information.
Measures
Social media use intensity Social media use intensity was
assessed as previously described by Boniel-Nissim et al.
Canadian Journal of Public Health (2023) 114:642–650
(2022). Participants identified how often they had online
contact with four different groups: their close friends,
friends from a larger friend group, friends they met through
the internet, and other people (i.e., parents, siblings, class-
mates, or teachers). For each group, participants reported
how frequently they had online contact by selecting one
of five frequency options ranging from “never or almost
never” to “almost all the time throughout the day”. Students
were then grouped to create a three-level social media use
intensity scale based on the highest reported frequency of
online contact across the four groups. Participants must have
responded to the frequency of use for at least one of the
four groups to be included in the analysis. Participants who
reported “never or at most weekly” or “at least every week”
were categorized as “non-active social media use”; students
who reported “daily or almost daily”, or “several times each
day” were categorized as “active social media use”; and stu-
dents who reported “almost all the time throughout the day”
were categorized as “intense” social media use.
Problematic social media use Problematic social media use
was assessed using the Social Media Disorder Scale (van den
Eijnden et al., 2016). Participants were asked nine “yes” or
“no” items pertaining to social media use that were related
to addiction-like symptoms (e.g., preoccupation, tolerance,
withdrawal, persistence, escape, problems, deception, dis-
placement, and conflict). Participants must have complete
responses for all nine questions to be included in the analy-
sis. Those who responded “yes” to six or more of the items
were categorized as problematic social media use.
Combined social media use scale The problematic and
social media use intensity categories were combined into
four mutually exclusive categories, as previously described
(Boniel-Nissim et al., 2022). These categories included
non-active social media use (i.e., “non-active social media
use” AND “no problematic use”), active social media use
(i.e., “active social media use” AND “no problematic use”),
intense social media use (i.e., “intense social media use”
AND “no problematic use”), and problematic social media
use (i.e., any category of the social media use intensity AND
“problematic use”).
Physical activity Five domains of physical activity were
assessed. Physical activity was described in the survey
as an activity that increases heart rate and causes breath-
lessness some of the time. Participants were asked how
many hours a week they typically spent doing physical
activity during class time at school (school curriculum
domain; e.g., gym or fitness class), organized sports that
were not part of classes (organized sport domain; e.g.,
school sports team or dance club), exercise sessions that
were not part of gym class or organized sports (exercise
645
domain; e.g., jogging, lifting weights, CrossFit), out-
door activities that were not part of gym class or organ-
ized sports (outdoor play domain; e.g., road hockey,
skateboarding, active games at recess), and commuting
by walking, cycling, or other active ways to get places
(active transport domain; e.g., biking to school, walking
to store). Corresponding time values (hours) were catego-
rized into six response options: “none at all” = 0, “about
half an hour a week” = 0.5, “about 1 hour a week” = 1,
“about 2 hours a week” = 2, “about 3 hours a week” = 3,
and “about 4 or more hours a week” = 4. These values
were then multiplied by 60 and divided by 7 to convert to
average minutes per day. Values across all five domains
were combined to determine whether adolescents’ aver-
age daily MVPA met the daily MVPA recommendation
of 60 min (Tremblay et al., 2016). Additionally, physical
activity values for each domain were dichotomized using
the first quartile to identify low (1st quartile) and high
(2nd to 4th quartile) engagement.
Covariates All covariates were collected using self-
reported questionnaire responses. Covariates included
gender (i.e., boy or girl), grade (i.e., grades 6–8 or 9–10),
cultural and racial background (i.e., White, Black, Latin
American, East and Southeast Asian, East Indian and
South Asian, Arab and West Indian, and Other), time
since immigration (i.e., Canadian born, 1 or 2 years,
3 + years), family affluence (i.e., low, medium, or high;
Torsheim et al., 2016), and life satisfaction (i.e., low
or high). All variables were predictors associated with
physical activity or social media use (Kelly et al., 2018;
Kukaswadia et al., 2014; Shimoga et al., 2019). For cul-
tural and racial background, participants who identified
as “Indigenous” were combined with the “Other (includ-
ing mixed)” category to adhere to ethical restrictions
with the HBSC data.
Statistical analyses
The analysis was conducted using SAS Enterprise Guide
version 7.1 (SAS, Cary, NC). All analyses incorporated sur-
vey weights to account for the distribution of adolescents in
Canada. Descriptive analyses were performed on the full
sample and by social media use category with 95% confi-
dence intervals (CIs). A mixed effects logistic regression
model clustered by school was used to test for differences
in meeting the physical activity recommendation between
social media use categories, with interaction terms included
for grade and gender. A similar model was also used to test
for engagement in physical activity for each physical activ-
ity domain by social media use categories. For all logistic
regression analyses, active users served as the reference cat-
egory as they were the most prevalent group in the sample.
13
646 Canadian Journal of Public Health (2023) 114:642–650

Results activity recommendations when compared to active social

Descriptive characteristics of the HBSC participants by
social media use category are presented in Table 1. Overall,
the most common social media use category was active use
(n = 5468), followed by intense use (n = 4286), non-active
use (n = 1768), and problematic use (n = 836).
The adjusted odds ratios (aOR) for the association
between social media use categories and meeting physi-
cal activity recommendations and physical activity
engagement in each of the five domains are presented in
Fig. 1, with the detailed results provided in Supplemental
Tables 2 and 3. Non-active social media use (aOR: 0.61;
95% CI: 0.53, 0.71) and intense social media use (aOR:
1.18; 95% CI: 1.03, 1.36) had statistically significant
lower and higher odds, respectively, of meeting physical
media use. There was no significant association in the
odds of meeting physical activity recommendations for
problematic social media use (aOR 0.91; 95% CI: 0.75,
1.11) when compared to active social media use. There
were statistically significant lower odds of physical activ-
ity engagement across all domains for non-active social
media use when compared to active social media use.
Problematic social media use had a statistically signifi-
cant lower odds of physical activity engagement (aOR:
0.67; 95% CI: 0.54, 0.83) in the exercise domain when
compared to active social media use. The interaction
terms for gender were not significant (see Supplemental
Tables 4 and 5 for the stratified data). There was a mar-
ginally significant interaction for grade (see Supplemen-
tal Tables 6 and 7 for the stratified data).

Table 1  Descriptive characteristics for study participants by social media use category
Variable Total sample Non-active (n = 1768; Active (n = 5468; Intense (n = 4286; Problematic (n = 836;
(n = 12,358) 14.3%) 44.2%) 34.6%) 6.8%)
Weighted % (95% CI) Weighted % (95% CI) Weighted % (95% CI) Weighted % (95% CI) Weighted % (95% CI)

Gender
Boy 45.7 (43.7; 47.7) 56.9 (53.0; 60.8)a 46.3 (43.8; 48.9) 41.2 (38.4; 44.0) 36.4 (31.2; 41.7)a
Girl 54.3 (52.3; 56.3) 43.1 (39.2; 47.0)a 53.7 (51.1; 56.2) 58.8 (56.0; 61.6) 63.6 (58.3; 68.8)a
Grade
6–8 58.2 (52.1; 64.2) 74.6 (69.2; 80.1)a 58.0 (51.9; 64.1) 51.5 (44.4; 58.7) 51.0 (42.6; 59.5)
9–10 41.8 (35.8; 47.9) 25.4 (19.9; 30.8)a 42.0 (35.9; 48.1) 48.5 (41.3; 55.6) 49.0 (40.5; 57.4)
Cultural and racial background
White 71.6 (66.6; 76.5) 74.5 (68.6; 80.3) 74.1 (69.2; 79.0) 69.0 (63.9; 74.1) 59.9 (52.9; 67.0)a
Black 3.7 (2.3; 5.1) 4.2 (2.2; 6.2) 3.2 (1.9; 4.5) 4.0 (2.5; 5.5) 4.5 (1.8; 7.1)
Latin American 1.5 (1.0; 2.1) 1.0 (0.3; 1.7) 1.7 (0.9; 2.5) 1.5 (0.8; 2.3) 1.7 (0.3; 3.0)
East and Southeast 3.2 (1.9; 4,5) 3.7 (1.8; 5.7) 3.3 (1.8; 4.9) 2.7 (1.4; 4.1) 2.8 (1.0; 4.5)
Asian
East Indian and 3.1 (1.8; 4.4) 2.6 (1.4; 3.8) 2.7 (1.5; 4.0) 3.6 (2.0; 5.3) 4.4 (0.3; 8.4)
South Asian
Arab and West 1.8 (1.1; 2.5) 1.5 (0.4; 2.6) 1.7 (0.9; 2.6) 2.1 (1.2; 3.0) 1.2 (0.2; 2.2)
Indian
Other 15.1 (12.7; 17.6) 12.5 (9.6; 15.4) 13.2 (10.9; 15.6) 17.0 (14.3; 19.8) 25.6 (19.6; 31.6)a
Time since immigration
Canadian born 76.1 (73.3; 78.9) 73.4 (69.8; 77.0) 77.6 (74.6; 80.6) 76.6 (73.5; 79.7) 69.9 (64.0; 75.7)
1 or 2 years 2.3 (1.7; 2.9) 2.2 (1.2; 3.2) 1.8 (1.2; 2.4) 2.3 (1.6; 3.1) 5.4 (2.5; 8.4)a
3 or more years 21.6 (19.1; 24.2) 24.5 (21.1; 27.8) 20.6 (17.8; 23.3) 21.1 (18.1; 24.0) 24.7 (20.1; 29.2)
Family affluence
Low 13.3 (11.7; 14.8) 15.2 (12.8; 17.6) 11.6 (9.9; 13.3) 13.8 (11.7; 15.9) 17.5 (13.7; 21.2)a
Medium 60.0 (56.7; 61.2) 61.9 (58.5; 65.2) 62.0 (59.5; 64.6) 54.1 (51.4; 56.9) 54.1 (49.4; 58.7)a
High 27.7 (10.5; 25.0) 22.9 (19.1; 26.8) 26.4 (23.2; 29.5) 32.1 (29.0; 35.1) 28.5 (23.3; 33.7)
Life satisfaction
Low 17.1 (15.9; 18.2) 13.6 (11.2; 16.0) 14.9 (13.5; 16.3) 18.5 (16.7; 20.2)a 33.7 (29.2; 38.3)a
High 82.9 (81.8; 84.1) 86.4 (84,0; 88.8) 85.1 (83.7; 86.5) 81.5 (79.8; 83.3)a 66.3 (61.7; 70.8)a
a
Significantly different proportions (95% confidence intervals that did not overlap) compared to the reference category (active social media use)

13
Canadian Journal of Public Health (2023) 114:642–650 647

Fig. 1  Mixed effect logistic 1.6

regression models clustered by

school were used to calculate 1.4

the adjusted odds ratio for meet-

ing physical activity recommen- 1.2

Adjusted Odds Ratio (95% CI)

dations and high engagement in Active

each of the five physical activity 1.0

Non-active
domains by social media use Intense
category. Active social media 0.8
Problematic
use was the reference category
for all models. All logistic 0.6

regression models are adjusted

for gender, grade, cultural and 0.4

racial background, time since

immigration, family affluence, 0.2

Active
Active

Active

Active

Active

Active
Problematic

Problematic

Problematic

Problematic

Problematic

Problematic
Intense

Intense

Intense

Intense

Intense

Intense
Non-active

Non-active

Non-active

Non-active

Non-active

Non-active
and life satisfaction. The total
sample size for the analysis was
12,358
Meeting Physical High Engagement High Engagement High Engagement High Engagement High Engagement
Activity in in in in in
Recommendations School Curriculum Organized Sport Exercise Outdoor Play Active Transport

Discussion odds of meeting physical activity recommendations, which

was not in support of the Goldilocks theory. Shimoga et al.
This study aimed to investigate the association between (2019) reported similar findings, where American adoles-
social media use and physical activity among Canadian cents who reported never using social media were more
adolescents. We hypothesized that both non-active and likely to report low levels of physical activity compared to
problematic social media use would have lower odds of those who used social media more frequently.
meeting physical activity recommendations. In line with However, the findings of this study do not support that
our hypothesis, non-active social media use was associated social media use displaces physical activity nor that overuse
with lower odds of meeting physical activity recommenda- of social media is associated with lower levels of physical
tions and lower odds of high engagement across all domains activity in adolescents. While we did not expect to see these
of physical activity. In contrast to our expectations, prob- results, we hypothesize that two factors, adolescent person-
lematic social media use was only associated with lower ality and social connectedness, may partially explain these
odds of high physical activity engagement in the exercise associations. Adolescent personality, specifically extraver-
domain. We also found that intense social media use was sion, as defined by the Five Factor Model of Personality, was
associated with a greater odds of meeting physical activity previously found to be associated with higher amounts of
recommendations. total physical activity and MVPA, and greater intensity and
The theory that heightened social media use would dis- use of social media (Allen et al., 2017; Sutin et al., 2016).
place time away from physical activity (i.e., the displace- Factors associated with extraversion, specifically high activ-
ment theory) was not fully supported by our results. We ity level and propensity to seek out stimulation, are cor-
found that intense social media use was associated with related with a more active lifestyle and less time with sed-
increased odds of meeting physical activity recommenda- entary activities (Sutin et al., 2016). In effect, it is possible
tions compared to active social media use, and non-active that intense social media use was indicative of an extraverted
use was associated with reduced odds of meeting recom- personality, which may have contributed to the significantly
mendations and engagement across all domains of physi- higher odds of meeting physical activity recommendations
cal activity. Another theory presented in literature was the identified in this study.
Goldilocks theory, which is where non-active and overuse of In addition, it is possible that adolescents who do not
social media is hypothesized to have a detrimental effect on use social media are less engaged with physical activity due
adolescent health, behaviours, and well-being (Przybylski & to a lack of social connectedness and support from their
Weinstein, 2017). Our results partially support this theory, as peers. The study by Boniel-Nissim et al. (2022) supports
non-active social media use was associated with decreased this claim, where non-active social media use was asso-
odds of meeting physical activity recommendations and ciated with lower levels of support from both friends and
lower odds of high engagement in all domains of physical classmates. It was also found that adolescent behaviours,
activity in comparison to active social media use. However, including physical activity, are strongly related to their social
intense social media use was associated with increased networks (Haidar et al., 2019; Prochnow et al., 2020). For

13
648
example, adolescents may create social connections through
social media with those who share similar interests, which in
turn may reinforce behaviours (Prochnow et al., 2020). The
opposite may also occur, where adolescents who engage in
physical activity with peers may create social connections
that are maintained through social media use. Thus, our
results coincide with the idea that social media may serve as
a tool that reinforces physical activity habits through social
connectedness. While this explains the trends seen in non-
active and intense social media use, it does not explain the
findings related to problematic social media use.
Similar to intense social media use, the findings of this
study indicate that problematic social media use does not
displace physical activity nor is it associated with reduc-
ing the odds of meeting physical activity recommendations.
Previously, problematic social media use or internet addic-
tion have been associated with lower levels of peer support
and increased frequency of psychological and somatic com-
plaints (i.e., irritability, nervousness, trouble sleeping, diz-
ziness, and headache) (Boniel-Nissim et al., 2022; Westgate
& Holliday, 2016). In addition, internet addiction, which is
classified as showing addiction-like symptoms to internet
use, has previously been associated with low levels of physi-
cal activity and high amounts of screen time (Han et al.,
2021). As such, we hypothesized that problematic social
media use would be associated with lower odds of meeting
physical activity recommendations and engaging with phys-
ical activity domains. However, our results indicated that
problematic social media use was only associated with lower
odds of physical activity engagement in the exercise domain.
It is possible that since the exercise domain is largely volun-
tary, being leisure-time and unscheduled physical activities,
these activities are more displaceable compared to the other
physical activity domains (i.e., school curriculum, organized
sport, outdoor play, and active transport domains), which are
largely scheduled activities (e.g., walking to school, attend-
ing club meetings, practices or games, gym class, active
games at recess, or pick-up basketball) that are part of an
adolescent’s daily physical activity through school.
Broadly, the findings of this study do not influence the
current recommendations in the Canadian 24-Hour Move-
ment Guidelines (Tremblay et al., 2016). While the find-
ings of this study did not indicate a negative association
of overuse of social media with physical activity levels, it
does not avoid the negative effects seen on the well-being,
health, and development of adolescents (Boer et al., 2022).
The positive association between intense social media use
and meeting physical activity recommendations is more
indicative of the complexity of social behaviours, such as
the affinity of personality types toward physical activity
13
Canadian Journal of Public Health (2023) 114:642–650
and the reinforcement of behaviours between peers, rather
than the direct effect social media may have on physical
activity levels of adolescents. As such, it can be theorized
that other forms of screen time, such as active or passive
screen time, may contribute to the negative effects seen on
adolescent well-being, health, and development.
Strengths and limitations of the study
The strengths of this study include the use of a social
media scale that differentiates intensity and problematic
use. This study also controlled for several potentially
confounding factors that are associated with adolescent
engagement in physical activity, types of physical activ-
ity, and social media use. In addition, this study had a
relatively large sample size, with results weighted to
represent the Canadian adolescent population. However,
this study was not without limitations. First, the study
incorporated a cross-sectional design which precludes
the ability to identify causal relationships. Second, there
was the possibility of inherent biases in the self-reported
questionnaires, including self-report bias, response bias,
and the propensity for adolescents to exaggerate physi-
cal activity and social media use in self-reported ques-
tionnaires (Parry et al., 2021). Third, we were unable to
analyze non-binary gender groups due to a small sample
size. Fourth, this study utilized a dichotomous variable for
physical activity rather than a continuous measure. Last,
this study excluded approximately one third of the HBSC
participants as a result of missing data. We identified a
difference in gender and low family affluence between the
included and excluded participants. This may have masked
any potential gendered differences in the analysis, includ-
ing interaction terms in the logistic regression models.
Conclusion
The findings of this study suggest that intense social media
use is associated with greater odds of meeting physical activ-
ity recommendations, whereas non-active and problematic
social media use were associated with lower odds of physical
activity. Given the increasing prevalence of social media
use among adolescents, it is important to understand both
the positive and negative health impacts it may have. Thus,
future research is needed to further explore these relation-
ships to uncover the mechanisms that drive these associa-
tions. It is important to continue to find ways to harness the
power of social media to help improve the health of adoles-
cents in the future.
Canadian Journal of Public Health (2023) 114:642–650
Contributions to knowledge
What does this study add to existing knowledge?
• This study provided insight into the current landscape
of frequency of social media use and physical activity
among Canadian adolescents.
• In comparison to active social media use in Canadian
adolescents, those who use it intensely had higher odds
of meeting physical activity (PA) recommendations
and those who do not use social media had lower odds
of meeting PA recommendations and engaging in PA
domains.
What are the key implications for public health interven-
tions, practice, or policy?
• Currently, there are no guidelines for social media use
that are endorsed or established by the Public Health
Agency of Canada.
• This study will help inform what constitutes healthy and
unhealthy use to develop or endorse current recommen-
dations for social media use in Canadian adolescents.
• This research provides an opportunity to engage with
stakeholders to address the impacts of social media use
on adolescent health.
Supplementary Information The online version contains sup-
plementary material available at https:// ​ d oi. ​ o rg/ ​ 1 0. ​ 1 7269/​
s41997-​023-​00754-9.
Acknowledgements We would like to thank Adrian Puca and Suzy
Wong from the Youth Policy and Partnership Unit, Division of Chil-
dren and Youth, Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) for their
partnership; William Pickett and Wendy Craig, co-principal investiga-
tors; Matt King, research director; the Joint Consortium for School
Health who facilitated the research across the country; and all the stu-
dents and schools who participated. Access to data was granted by the
HBSC investigative team at Queen’s University.
Author contributions JJL, SW, and GG developed the research ques-
tion and designed the study. BM and JJL had full access to all data and
take responsibility for the integrity of the data. BM and JJL led the
statistical analysis and synthesis of results. BM drafted the manuscript.
All authors contributed to the interpretation of results, editing, and
critical review of the final manuscript, and approved the final version.
Funding Open access funding provided by Public Health Agency of
Canada. PHAC funded the Canadian Health Behaviour in School-aged
Children (HBSC) study.
Data availability The HBSC Canada data are available upon request
by contacting Queen’s University.
Code availability The SAS codes used to calculate the results in this
paper are available upon request by contacting the corresponding
author.
649
Declarations
Ethics approval Ethics approval for the HBSC Canada study was
obtained from PHAC (REB-2013–0022) and Queen’s University
(6027003) Research Ethics Boards.
Consent to participate Consent was obtained from school administra-
tors, parents or guardians, and students. Participation in the study was
voluntary.
Consent for publication Not applicable.
Conflict of interest The authors declare no competing interests.
Disclaimer The content and views expressed in this article are those
of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the Government
of Canada.
Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attri-
bution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adapta-
tion, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long
as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source,
provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes
were made. The images or other third party material in this article are
included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated
otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in
the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not
permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will
need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a
copy of this licence, visit http://​creat​iveco​mmons.​org/​licen​ses/​by/4.​0/.
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