Aiden Simard
Age 18 | Brandon, Manitoba
Canada-Wide Science Fair 2019 Excellence Award: Senior Bronze Medal | University of Ottawa $1000 Entrance Scholarship | Western University $1000 Entrance Scholarship
In today’s society, mental illness is becoming increasingly prevalent. Whether it be individually, within family, or amongst peers, mental illness has the ability to have an enormous impact on internal and external relationships. Society has experienced an alarming influx in adolescent mental health issues; specifically anxiety and depression (Government of Canada, 2006). This statistic is not rising in isolation, as other research shows a similar increase in the amount of time people spend interacting with online-social-media (Brown 2018). After observing these trends and reading other relevant research, this led me to ask the following question: could an increase in social media usage be correlated to the increase in anxiety-related illnesses?
INTRODUCTION
According to the BBC (Brown, 2018), around 3 billion people use social media and spend an average of two hours per day on these services. This means that if social media is in fact a contributor to stress/anxiety, it will affect around 40% of our world’s population. That being said, since social media is still relatively new, there is not enough concrete quantitative data to demonstrate any strong correlation between the frequency of its use and anxiety. The BBC article also points out that any research that has been conducted is mostly self-evaluation which is heavily subjective and not very reliable. Thus, more reliable research studies must be carried out. To obtain a thorough and detailed perspective on the topic, many different components of anxiety were initially researched. Factors such as hormonal regulation, cardiovascular behaviour, self-assessed cognitive pressure, and instant gratification were found to be linked to stress and anxiety. Additional research links the usage of social media to modifications of dopamine and serotonin levels in the brain (neurotransmitters responsible for a variety of functions such as mood, motivations, attention, seeking, and reward). These neurochemicals have been explicitly linked to addictive behaviours, as well as anxiety and depression (Priesnitz, 2015). This change in chemical balance, or neurotransmission, resembles similar changes observed in trait anxiety disorders (Simon, 2018). That is, alterations in levels of dopamine and serotonin are observed, suggesting a correlation between smartphone/social media usage and anxiety disorders (Alhassan et al., 2018). By referring to relevant research such as this, my study will be constructed in an attempt to demonstrate (with qualitative and quantitative data) a correlation between social media and stress/anxiety.
HYPOTHESIS
Taken together, I hypothesize that an experiment that includes not only qualitative self-evaluation, but concrete quantitative measurement to account for physiological alterations, could demonstrate a connection between social media and adolescent anxiety.
METHODOLOGY
Once I had collected an initial 30 volunteers, subjects had their stress symptoms measured over a period of 5 weeks during which time their access to social media would become steadily restricted through secure password protected time limits. This 5 week period was split into 5 sessions (Figure 1).
Figure 1. Five-week study period, split into 5 sessions.
To measure the dependent variable (stress/anxiety), various data was collected in each session. Firstly, psychological symptoms of stress were measured through a qualitative questionnaire. The questionnaire (Appendix A) contained carefully chosen questions (Hughes, 2018) that, once tallied, would reflect participant’s personal level or stress/anxiety. To quantify physiological and chemical changes related to stress, blood pressure monitoring and salivary cortisol testing were also conducted in each session. This allowed me to analyze different components of stress throughout the body, and not rely solely on self-assessed stress scores. The blood pressure was measured using a blood pressure cuff to identify temporary spikes of blood pressure due to episodes of anxiety. Salivary cortisol tests were also used on select participants to measure the overall impact of stress as a result of lower social media time. The cortisol tests were conducted at the beginning of the experiment (prior to control), and at the end of the experiment (overall impact due to control). In this manner, the difference in cortisol levels could be identified. To limit extraneous variables, cortisol tests were taken exactly 4 times a day at the same time during both samples; 30 minutes after waking up, right before lunch, before dinner, and 30 minutes before bed.
RESULTS
Upon experimental conclusion, it became apparent that participants were exhibiting abnormal symptoms related to anxiety. Changes in blood pressure were found to be 0.84 correlative with participants self-assessed stress score, signifying that both the body and the mind were being affected in similar ways (Figure 2).
Figure 2. Blood pressure and stress score correlation graph.
Using differential calculus, specific experimental periods were mathematically analyzed allowing me to identify specific points along the study period where stress shifted between an increase and a decrease. In doing so, there were three distinct time points that were identified (Figure 3).
Figure 3. Experimental periods.
The first point identified was the “Initial Drop-Off”, where participants experienced a decrease in stress/anxiety (negative derivatives). Next, the “Withdrawal Period” was noted, where participants experienced an increase in stress/anxiety. Lastly, the “Adaption Period” was seen in which participants experienced another decrease in stress/anxiety followed by a plateau phase. Additionally, participant’s cortisol levels were found to be significantly lower at the termination of the experimental period; illustrating that there was much less cognitive stress and pressure at the end of the study than at the beginning (Figure 4).
Figure 4. Individual comparative cortisol data.
DISCUSSION
The purpose of this experimental study was to identify whether social media may have an impact on adolescent stress and anxiety. Through many forms of analysis, it was established that social media use demonstrated a strong link to adolescent anxiety. The manner in which participants’ stress was altered in relation to their withdrawal to a substance/behaviour throughout this study is consistent with a variety of different addictive substances (Lautieri 2019). These substances range from heroin, cocaine, alcohol and a collection of other prescription drugs. Consequently, social media can be considered as an addictive substance having an impact on our mental condition. The similarities between my study and the general profile of additive substances could also be seen when observing the collected blood pressure data, in that it followed the same pattern as the stress questionnaires (an initial decrease in stress, followed by the other periods as noted in the results section). According to a 2019 study by M.D. Steps, systolic blood pressure is directly correlated with sudden influxes of anxiety. Thus, it is very probable that the data within this study may follow the same pattern. To quantify the biological analysis compared to the psychological analysis, blood pressure and stress scores were directly compared. This was then tested using a form of inferential statistics, to calculate correlation. As observed in the analysis, the Pearson Product Motion Correlation Coefficient comes out to roughly 0.844. This correlation suggests that the participant’s psychological and physiological markers of stress followed the same trend which validates the findings of the survey. As mentioned before, most research conducted on this subject has been mostly self-evaluation (which is heavily subjective, and not very reliable). Since the survey within my study was correlated with blood pressure, this shows a link between self-reported and physiological indicators of stress and increases the reliability of my results. When graphing the stress scores compared to the session progression (increasing social media), the average rate of change of the entire experimental period was calculated. Since the average rate of change comes out to a negative number (-0.781), it suggests that as participants limited their social media use, there was an overall decrease in stress. While this may be the case, the actual process was much more complex. It was instead a fairly consistent pattern, which created three behavioural periods within the study. As previously mentioned, the three periods are visually identifiable on a graph: initial drop-off, withdrawal period, and adaption period. These periods demonstrate that while attempting to remove social media from their lives, participants notably raised their levels of stress and anxiety. Once this period had been overcome, participants were found to have even lower stress levels than prior to the start of the experiment. This is very similar to the withdrawal of other addictive substances; once you overcome the initial period of withdrawal, the negative health effects such as stress/anxiety begin to decrease, until they are hardly there and the body begins to adapt to a new homeostasis (Noori et al., 2012). Even further, cortisol testing data (the stress hormone) also suggested a correlation between social media use and stress and anxiety. The obtained samples for both tested participants showed lower cortisol concentration in the blood at the end of the experiment compared to the start. This demonstrates that less cortisol was produced as a response to decreased cognitive stress because participants were exposed to less social media. As social media was being limited, it is important to note how the participants other screen time behaviours were affected. Among the majority of participants, game usage largely increased due to the limit on social media applications. Additionally, some participants began watching more television and using other entertainment related apps. Although data collection was very successful across the board, some limitations were observed. The main limitation was an inability to ensure participant control throughout the entire day; although participants were limited on their own personal smart devices, there was no guarantee that subjects would not find other means to use social media (such as smartphones provided by the external populace). In an attempt to maximize control over this extraneous variable, participants were asked if they had violated the terms of the study at the commencement of each session. If the violation had been too severe, participants were removed from the experiment. This resulted in the removal of three participants. Experimental cost constituted another major limitation. If more funding was accessible, more participants would have been able to participate (specifically in conducting cortisol testing). This would have strengthened the overall statistical significance of the study. While this study was not without its limitations, I attempted to minimize extraneous variables whenever possible.
CONCLUSION
In conclusion, this study supports the hypothesis that the use of social media applications is correlated with adolescent stress and anxiety. Social media was shown to be a significant source of stress for the participants, which could influence anxiety-related disorders. Participants in the study displayed an initial increase in stress/anxiety due to the newly placed limitations that eventually lowered nearing the completion of the experiment.
REFLECTION
As an adolescent currently enrolled in high school at the time of writing this paper, I have firsthand experience with many of the difficulties experienced during adolescence. It is a constant battle of discovering personal identity, determining self-worth, and feeling accepted. Having social media as a coping mechanism appears to be beneficial to some, as it can have the ability to make people feel loved, validated, and accepted. It can provide an escape from the real world, allowing people to feel exactly as they want to online. However, as shown throughout my study, social media can also have negative consequences. It is therefore up to us as adolescents to be cognizant of these negative effects and adjust our usage accordingly. As mentioned in the discussion, social media use can be compared to addictive substance abuse. Recognizing these similarities and intervening could help reduce or prevent the associated anxiety and stress involved in the overuse of these platforms. I hope that this data will contribute to the growing body of knowledge surrounding social media addiction, and its effects on stress and anxiety. The threat of social media dependence and addiction is a pressing issue and we should make strides to educate the general public on this issue to institute change.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would like to express my deep gratitude to Mrs. Patti Mashinter, my research supervisor, for guiding me through the process and proving hours of consult. I would also like to thank Mr. Trevor Beals for his help in proofing the various drafts of my paper these past 8 months. I also send grateful thanks to Mr. Ken Seekings, Dr. Marc Casavant, and Dr. Linda Ross for their guidance through ethical procedure, as well as financial support. I would also like to express appreciation to the staff and students of Neelin High school for allowing me to operate out of their institution. Finally, I wish to thank my parents for their support and encouragement throughout my study.
REFERENCES
Alhassan, A. A., Alqadhib, E. M., Taha, N. W., Alahmari, R. A., Salam, M., & Almutairi, A. F. (2018). The relationship between addiction to smartphone usage and depression among adults: A cross sectional study. BMC Psychiatry, 18. Retrieved from http://ezproxy.brandonu.ca.berlioz.brandonu.ca/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=psyh&AN=2018-25495-001&site=ehost-live
Brown, J. (2018) : Is Social Media Bad for You? The evidence and the Unknowns. BBC Future. Retrieved from: http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20180104-is-social-media-bad-for-you-the-evidence-and-the-unknowns
Government of Canada. Human Face of Mental Health and Mental Illness in Canada. Ottawa (Ontario); Minister of Public Works and Government Services Canada; 2006. 188 p. Cat. No. HP5-19/2006E.
Hughes, S. (2018, March). The Effects of Social Media on Depression Anxiety and Stress. Dublin Business School, Department of Psychology, 47-49. Retrieved from https://esource.dbs.ie/bitstream/handle/10788/3481/ba_hughes_s_2018.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y
Noori, H. R., Spanagel, R., & Hansson, A. C. (2012). Neurocircuitry for modeling drug effects. Addiction Biology, 17(5), 827–864. https://doi-org.berlioz.brandonu.ca/10.1111/j.1369-1600.2012.00485.x
Priesnitz, W. (2015). ADDICTED. Natural Life, 19–23. Retrieved from http://ezproxy.brandonu.ca.berlioz.brandonu.ca/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx? Bibliography Andrew, O. (2018). The History and Evolution of the Smartphone: 1992-2018. Text Request. Retrieved from: https://www.textrequest.com/blog/history-evolution-smartphone/
Braun K. (2011). The prefrontal-limbic system: development, neuroanatomy, function, and implications for socioemotional development. Clinics in Perinatology, 38(4), 685–702. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com.berlioz.brandonu.ca/login.aspx?direct=true&db=cin20&AN=108204768&site=ehost-live
Robertson, R. (2017, Dec 19). Why you’re addicted to social media – dopamine, technology, and inequality. Retrieved from https://medium.com/@Reece_Robertson/why-youre-addicted-to-social-media-dopamine-technology-inequality-c2cca07ed3ee
AIDEN SIMARD
My name is Aiden Simard. I am from Brandon, Manitoba, but will be continuing my studies at the University of British Columbia this coming fall. I spend my free time as a competitive tap dancer and a youth mentor. Tap is a large part of my life, so much so that I have traveled the world to places such as Germany and Vermont competing and developing my skills as a dancer. I also find leading the next generation to be very rewarding, which is why I work and volunteer all over my community to provide underprivileged youth with a role model. Beyond this I also love researching important topics that are relevant in today’s society. This led me to my current research topic on adolescent anxiety and social media. These are both concepts that everyone can relate to and I hope that my findings help contribute to the growing body of knowledge surrounding mental health.
