Study: Social Media Is Worst for Girls 11-13, Boys 14-15

A recent study suggests that the negative impact of social media platforms varies for girls and boys based on their age. Girls are most negatively impacted between the ages of 11 and 13, while boys are most negatively impacted between 14 and 15 years old.

Forbes reports that a recent study from researchers at Oxford and Cambridge universities alongside colleagues at the Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour in the Netherlands, states that the negative impact of social media varies for girls and boys in relation to their age. The study states that while girls experience unhappiness linked to social media use between the ages of 11 and 13 but boys experience similar unhappiness at the ages of 14 to 15.

Scientists believe that the difference in sensitivity to social media could be linked to puberty which girls tend to experience before boys. Another connection between social media use and life dissatisfaction at the age of 19 may be linked to major life changes and progression such as leaving the family home, starting a new job, or going to college.

The study analyzed data from 84,000 individuals in an attempt to establish a link between social media use and general life satisfaction. The study found that the use of social media during key periods of adolescence was associated with poorer life satisfaction 12 months later. But the adolescent periods were different for girls and boys.

The study further found a link between social media use and life satisfaction in the opposite way — lower levels of satisfaction predicted greater use of social media 12 months later. Dr. Amy Orben, a group leader at the MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, University of Cambridge, who led the study, commented: “The link between social media use and mental wellbeing is clearly very complex. Changes within our bodies, such as brain development and puberty, and in our social circumstances appear to make us vulnerable at particular times of our lives.”

Last year in a report titled “Facebook Knows Instagram Is Toxic for Teen Girls, Company Documents Show,” the Wall Street Journal claimed that Facebook was aware that its photo-sharing app Instagram can have a negative effect on the body image of young women.

The WSJ wrote:

“Thirty-two percent of teen girls said that when they felt bad about their bodies, Instagram made them feel worse,” the researchers said in a March 2020 slide presentation posted to Facebook’s internal message board, reviewed by The Wall Street Journal. “Comparisons on Instagram can change how young women view and describe themselves.”

…

“We make body image issues worse for one in three teen girls,” said one slide from 2019, summarizing research about teen girls who experience the issues.

“Teens blame Instagram for increases in the rate of anxiety and depression,” said another slide. “This reaction was unprompted and consistent across all groups.”

Read more at Forbes here.

Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship. Follow him on Twitter @LucasNolan or contact via secure email at the address lucasnolan@protonmail.com