From days to months: The effect of social media use on stress among adolescents accumulates over time

Although often linked, much is unknown about the relationship between adolescents’ social media use and stress in everyday life. This study examined how the effect of social media use on stress unfolds at daily, weekly, biweekly, and monthly levels, focusing both on overall effects across the sample and person-specific effects. In addition, we tested whether adolescents differed in effects based on their gender, age, and trait resilience. We used a 100-day diary study among 479 adolescents (44,211 completed observations). Participants reported daily stress levels and time spent on favorite social media platforms. Trait-level moderators were measured in a baseline questionnaire. Overall, the daily effect of social media use on stress was negligible (β = .03). However, there was substantial variation among adolescents: for 37% usage was linked to increased stress, for 14% to reduced stress, and for 49% it had no impact. These differences could not be explained by gender, age, or trait resilience. At longer timescales, the effect strengthened and affected more adolescents, rising from weekly (β = .05; increased stress for 46% of adolescents), over biweekly (β = .07; for 59%), to monthly levels (β = .13; for 73%). Additionally, 14% experienced less stress on days of increased usage, but this relief effect was nearly absent at longer timescales. The daily impact of social media use on stress is minimal. However, the effect becomes more pronounced over longer periods. This study is a first step toward understanding how everyday social media-related stress accumulates over time.