TOPLINE:

A 1-week social media (SM) detox intervention among young adults was associated with reductions of 25%, 16%, and 15% in symptoms of depression, anxiety, and insomnia, respectively, in a new prospective cohort study. However, questions remain regarding the durability of the associations.

METHODOLOGY:

• Investigators included nearly 400 young adults aged 18-24 years (mean age, 21 years; 74% women; 53% White), of whom 79% participated in a 1-week detox intervention for reducing SM use.
• Participants underwent three virtual visits over a 2-week observational phase followed by an optional 1-week SM detox targeting Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, and X platforms.
• Outcomes included changes from baseline on the nine-item Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) for depression; the Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7 (GAD-7); the Insomnia Severity Index; the University of California, Los Angeles Loneliness Scale; the Problematic Use of Social Networks Scale; the Bergen Social Media Addiction Scale; the Negative Social Media Comparison Scale; and the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale.
• Digital phenotyping was performed using smartphone sensors that collected continuous data on mobility patterns, screen interactions, and communication behaviors, and participants completed daily ecological momentary assessment (EMA) surveys for in-the-moment self-reports on mental health. At baseline, women had higher mean daily screen time than men (2 hours vs 1.3 hours, P < .001).

TAKEAWAY:

• Mean daily SM screen time decreased from a mean of 1.9 hours at baseline to 0.5 hours during the detox period (P < .001).
• Significant reductions from baseline occurred after the SM detox in symptoms of depression, anxiety, and insomnia (all, -2 reduction; P < .001).
• Significant associations were found between problematic SM use and PHQ-9, and GAD-7 scores, negative SM scale scores and loneliness, and addictive SM use and insomnia (P < .001 for all). In adjusted models with self-reports, higher SM addiction scores were associated with greater depressive symptoms (P < .001), higher problematic use scores with greater loneliness (P = .01), and higher negative scale scores with increased anxiety (P < .001) and insomnia (P = .02). However, objective SM measures, such as screen time and days opened, were not linked to clinical outcomes.
• Daily screen duration increased during the detox week compared with baseline (by 4.5%; P = .04), as did home time (by 6.3%; P < .001).

IN PRACTICE:

“These findings suggest that digital behavior change interventions may improve mental health; however, the durability of these outcomes and their impact on behavior warrant further study, particularly in a more diverse population,” the investigators wrote.

SOURCE:

This study was led by Elombe Calvert, MBBS, Department of Psychiatry, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston. It was published online on November 24 in JAMA Network Open.

LIMITATIONS:

The study population was predominantly college-aged female iPhone users with high education levels, limiting generalizability. Self-reported measures and data on EMAs may have been influenced by recall or social desirability bias. Furthermore, device-recorded app usage statistics may have been affected by platform differences or circumvented by using alternate devices. Participant behavior may have been influenced by awareness of monitoring and self-selection into the detox group. Additionally, the absence of a randomized control group and follow-up period prevented the definitive attribution of improvements to the intervention. 

DISCLOSURES:

This study was funded by the McChord Foundation. One investigator disclosed receiving research support from Otsuka and personal fees from Boehringer Ingelheim, outside the submitted work. The other investigators reported no relevant financial relationships.

This article was created using several editorial tools, including AI, as part of the process. Human editors reviewed this content before publication.