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Social Media and Anxiety
Alexandra Berti
Saint John the Baptist Diocesan High School

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Table of Contents!
Abstract 3
Introduction 4
Literature Review 5
Methods and Procedures 7
Results 9
Tables and Figures 11
Discussion 15
References 17

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Abstract
With social media usage on the rise, many people claim that using social media helps
them to communicate with people from around the world. Additionally, it gives people the
opportunity to meet and network with people around the world. When people think of the
dangers of using social media, however, the majority of people automatically think of a stranger
stalking or harming them and/or their family. Most people do not realize that social media affects
other aspects of their life. The brain, one of the most complex parts of the human body, can be
greatly affected by social media. The hypothesis for this study was that there is a correlation
between social media and anxiety.
Subjects (Adults ages 18 and older, both male and female of all ethnicities, religions, etc.)
were encouraged to participate in the study by filling out an online questionnaire. The
questionnaire contained multiple-choice questions and took approximately seven minutes to
complete. No identifying information was collected. Conclusions were then drawn based off of
the data. After surveying 89 people, fifteen male and seventy-four females, the average time
spent on social media was 3.56 hours. When looking at the level of anxiety people felt when
using social media the bell curve was shifted to the left. The hypothesis was correct and there is a
correlation between social media and anxiety, however it is not significant. Only Instagram had a
slightly significant correlation of 0.333 on the 0.01 level when comparing different social media
sights and anxiety.

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Introduction
After studying adolescent girls’ emotions and personality traits change at rapid paces at
the ADEPT (Adolescent Development of Emotions and Personality Traits) Project at Stony
Brook University as an intern and observing and learning about a myriad or anxiety disorders, it
was evident that many people suffer from anxiety disorders every day. Recognized thirty-four
years ago in 1980, anxiety disorders have become increasingly common. On an average day,
most people are always on social media sites. According to researchers, many of the commonly
used social media sites began launching in 2004 which could explain the sudden increase in
anxiety disorders if there was indeed a correlation between social media and anxiety.
This research is important because if there indeed is a correlation between social media
and anxiety, proper measures can be taken to alert people of the side effects of using social
media and schools can better inform students of the effects social media has on their health.

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Literature Review
In one study, UK scientists studied how people viewed social media and their anxiety
levels after using social media. To do this, they tested 228 people. 2/3 of the participants claimed
to have difficulty sleeping after using social media, while 60% claimed that in order to
concentrate they had to turn off all electronic devices completely. Keeping this in mind, 55% of
people claimed to have anxiety and to worry when they were not using social media for an
extended period of time. Scientists came to the conclusion that there was indeed a correlation
between anxiety and social media. Social Media has become the center of society, causing
people to get attached to checking their social media accounts. (University Wire, 2014)
In another study, researchers conducted a study to see if people get anxiety when they get
friend requests on Facebook. To do this, they tested 200 people. Of the participants, 63% delayed
responding to friend requests, 32% said that rejecting friend requests made them feel
uncomfortable or guilty, 10% admitted to not enjoy receiving friend requests and 12% said that
Facebook usage increased their levels of anxiety and stress though they had more “friends” on
Facebook than the common user. The researchers came to the conclusion that there is a
correlation between the number of Facebook “friends” one has and the level of anxiety one
experiences. (Taylor, 2014)
Psychologists in Australia studied kids in the hopes of seeing if kids who use Facebook
have a high level of anxiety. The kids were male and females who used social media, especially
Facebook. Results included that children look on social media to see what people are saying
about them. Kids then use this information to develop their identities. As punishments,
oftentimes parents and guardians take their children’s phone and computer away, or simply
social media. Psychologists discovered that this actually boosts kids’ anxiety as they feel out of

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the loop when not using social media. The psychologists for this study concluded that there is a
correlation between use of social media, especially Facebook, by kids and the amount of anxiety
they have as a result of social media. Kids often look at comments and “likes” made on social
media to determine their identity and who they are. Kids additionally feel anxiety without social
media because they feel disconnected from the world. (The Hindustan Times, 2011)

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Hypothesis
Current literature research suggests that the more that people use social media, the more
anxiety they will experience and that when unconnected to social media, especially Facebook,
people feel more anxiety as they feel disconnected from the world. Research also suggests that
there is a positive correlation between anxiety and social media as a whole but does not confirm
it. In this study, it was predicted that there was a positive correlation between anxiety and social
media as a whole.
Methods and Procedures
In the study, the participants’ ages ranged from eighteen to sixty-five and over. The
participants were from the United States and represented all genders as well as various religions,
ethnicities, backgrounds, etc. Participants were recruited through fliers to participate in this study
and voluntarily submitted a survey, created on Google Drive by the researcher. The survey
contained questions about their social media usage and anxiety before, during and after using
social media. Completion of the survey took approximately seven minutes and all of the
participants successfully completed the entire survey. During the survey, no identifying
information was collected and no intrusive questions were asked.
Once collected, the data was secured by password access only and was only accessible by
the researcher. Once the data was collected from each participant, each survey response was
coded into SPSS by the researcher in order to analyze the data thoroughly. After analyzing the
data, the researcher drew conclusions were drawn and inferences were made. The participants
were not compensated and all participants finished the survey thoroughly and successfully. The

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study had 89 participants total, fifteen male and seventy four female, ages 18 and older from the
United States.

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Results
After surveying eighty-nine people, fifteen male (16.9%) and seventy-four females
(83.1%) found in Table 1, the average time spent on social media (Figure 1) was 3.56 hours. This
shows that on average, people ages eighteen and older use social media at least four hours per
day. When looking at the level of anxiety people felt when using social media (Figure 2),
standard deviation fell at 2.268 and the bell curve was shifted to the left. This shows that most
people fell below the average level of anxiety in the study.
When comparing the average time participants spend on social media each day and the
level of anxiety they experience, there was a .381 correlation (Table 2) which indicates a
mathematically significant relationship, however, additionally shows that there is not an overly
strong relationship between the amount of time the participants spend on social media each day
compared to their anxiety levels. The correlation between age and level of anxiety was also
analyzed. There was a correlation of -.570 (Table 3) between the two variables which deems a
significant relationship at the .01 level, as well as a very strong relationship and a negative
correlation. The correlation between age and time spent on social media had a -.485 correlation
which is significant at the .01 level as well.
When comparing age groups of participants in the study (Table 4), it was found that the
majority of participants’ ages ranged from 18-20 (44.9 %) and that the second largest age group
was tied at 11.2% of people in the twenty-seven to thirty-five and the forty-six to fifty-two- age
categories. Lower percentage groups included fifty-three to fifty-nine (10.1%), sixty plus (9%),
twenty-one to twenty-six (7.9%), and thirty-six to forty-five (5.6%) which was the least
represented age group for the study.

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Looking more closely at the correlation between the types of social media people use and
the levels of anxiety they experience (Table 5), Instagram had a slightly significant correlation
(0.333 on the 0.01 level). The most popular social media site used amongst the participants was
Facebook. The top four most commonly used sites were Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and
YouTube.

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Tables and Figures
Figure 1.
Figure 2.

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Table 1.
Gender
Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent
Valid Male 15 16.9 16.9 16.9
female 74 83.1 83.1 100.0
Total 89 100.0 100.0
Table 2.
Correlations
Average
Time Level of Anxiety
Average Time Pearson Correlation 1 .381
**
Sig. (2-tailed) .000
N 89 89
Level of Anxiety Pearson Correlation .381
**
1
Sig. (2-tailed) .000
N 89 89
**. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).
Table 3.
Correlations
Age Level of Anxiety Average Time
Age Pearson Correlation 1 -.570
**
-.485
**
Sig. (2-tailed) .000 .000
N 89 89 89
Level of Anxiety Pearson Correlation -.570
**
1 .381
**
Sig. (2-tailed) .000 .000
N 89 89 89
Average Time Pearson Correlation -.485
**
.381
**
1
Sig. (2-tailed) .000 .000
N 89 89 89
**. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).

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Table 4.
Age
Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent
Valid 18-20 40 44.9 44.9 44.9
21-26 7 7.9 7.9 52.8
27-35 10 11.2 11.2 64.0
36-45 5 5.6 5.6 69.7
46-52 10 11.2 11.2 80.9
53-59 9 10.1 10.1 91.0
60+ 8 9.0 9.0 100.0
Total 89 100.0 100.0

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Table 5.
Correlations"
Level of
Anxiety" Facebook" Instagram" YouTube" Twitter"
Level of
Anxiety"
Pearson Correlation" 1" .201" .333
**
" .192" .169"
Sig. (2-tailed)" .059" .001" .072" .112"
N" 89" 89" 89" 89" 89"
Facebook" Pearson Correlation" .201" 1" .247
*
" .200" -.021"
Sig. (2-tailed)" .059" .020" .060" .844"
N" 89" 89" 89" 89" 89"
Instagram" Pearson Correlation" .333
**
" .247
*
" 1" .284
**
" .340
**
"
Sig. (2-tailed)" .001" .020" .007" .001"
N" 89" 89" 89" 89" 89"
YouTube" Pearson Correlation" .192" .200" .284
**
" 1" .349
**
"
Sig. (2-tailed)" .072" .060" .007" .001"
N" 89" 89" 89" 89" 89"
Twitter" Pearson Correlation" .169" -.021" .340
**
" .349
**
" 1"
Sig. (2-tailed)" .112" .844" .001" .001"
N" 89" 89" 89" 89" 89"
**. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed)."
*. Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed)."

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Discussion
This study was conducted to see if there is a correlation between social media and
anxiety. This research study is important because if there was indeed a correlation between social
media and anxiety, proper measures could be taken to alert people of the side effects of social
media and schools could better inform students of the effects social media has on their health.
The results found during this study support the hypothesis that there is a correlation between
social media and anxiety, though the correlation is not significantly strong. Eighty-eight of the
eighty-nine participants claimed to use social media and of the different social media sites
participants claimed to use, those who used Instagram tended to have a higher level of anxiety
than those who did not.
As a study, there were some limitations collecting data. More females were willing to
take the survey than males. As a result, 83.1% of the participants represented were female and
only 16.9% were males (Table 1). In the study, the majority of the participants were ages
eighteen to twenty (44.9%), however the participants’ ages ranged from eighteen to sixty-five
plus years old. The second largest age group was tied at 11.2% of people in the twenty-seven to
thirty-five and the forty-six to fifty-two- age categories. Lower percentage groups included fifty-
three to fifty-nine (10.1%), sixty plus (9%), twenty-one to twenty-six (7.9%), and thirty-six to
forty-five (5.6%) which was the least represented age group for the study (Table 4).
Overall, the correlation between the average time participants spend on social media and
the level of anxiety that they experiences was .381 (Table 2) which is mathematically significant,
however proved that there was not an overly strong relationship between the amount of time the
participants spend on social media each day compared to their anxiety levels. This suggests that

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people may have anxiety for other reasons like school, work and other social events which
proves that social media is not the sole reason for anxiety in those who use social media.
The correlation between age and social media usage had a significant correlation of -.485
(Table 3.) which was significant. It can be concluded based on the data that participants in the
most popular age groups, eighteen-twenty, twenty-seven to thirty-five and forty-six to fifty-two
use social media more often (Table 4). One reason for the spike in social media usage in these
age groups could be their other activities. For example, most people in the eighteen to twenty age
range are in college and often use social media to connect with friends and meet new people
from their college or workplace. Those ranging in the twenty-seven to thirty-five and forty-six to
fifty-two age ranges may have children and have a social media account in order to protect their
children on the internet and to monitor their children’s social media usage. The correlation
between age and level of anxiety (Table 3) that existed was significant and was a negative
correlation which lends that age does not affect the level of anxiety one experiences.
Time restraints did not allow for duplication of this study. If duplicated, the amount of
social media usage and levels of anxiety in people could be compared during a different season
of the year to see if there is a difference between those who participated in this study during the
winter vs. if the study was conducted during the summer. Taking place during the winter, the
participants may have been spending more time on social media as it was too cold to go outside
and play or they had a snow day therefore may have responded to the questionnaire differently
than if the study was conducted over the summer.

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References
Facebook 'triggering anxiety problems in kids as young as 8'. (2011, Jun 06). The
Hindustan Times Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/870266822?accountid=699
Lesley, C. T. (2011, Feb 18). Facebook can lead to high anxiety. Toronto Star Retrieved
from http://search.proquest.com/docview/852801400?accountid=699
Social media, the new cause of anxiety. (2014, Oct 23). University Wire Retrieved from
http://search.proquest.com/docview/1615674675?accountid=699"