New research finds Snapchat and Instagram to blame for mental illness in young Australians

The steady decline of mental health in young Aussies coincides with the launch and growth of Instagram and Snapchat in the 2010s, according to new research. The e61 Institute study found the average self-reported mental health score of females aged 15 to 24 declined by 11 per cent between 2011 and 2022, from 73 per cent to 62 per cent. The mental health of young men declined 7 per cent, from 74.5 per cent down to 67.5 per cent during the same period. e61 Research director Gianni La Cava said the study looked at the correlation between mental health and the launch of social media giants Instagram in 2010 and Snapchat in 2011. “Our research finds that youth mental health was stable but then began falling sharply after 2012, which coincides with the time when photo and video-sharing social media platforms became widely popular,” Dr La Cava said. “While more data and research are needed to say that social media is causing declining mental health among young Australians, the coincident timing of the decline suggests there is a link.” Dr La Cava said young women who use social media are more likely to see a decline in their overall mental health. “We find that young women born since the late 1990s (Generation Z) – who use social media more than any other group – have strikingly lower mental health than older women and all men,” he said. “This fits existing data showing they experience higher rates of mental health disorders, greater need for help from mental health professionals and increasing rates of mental health-related hospitalisations.” The study found 90 per cent of women aged 15 to 24 use social media every day or most days compared to 75 per cent of young men, 62 per cent of women over 25 and 46 per cent of men over 25. The study also looked at The Friendship Index score for young women and men, which asks respondents whether they agree or disagree with the statement: ‘I seem to have a lot of friends’. Dr La Cava said the Friendship Index for young women declined from around 0.97 to 0.12 from 2011 to 2022, while the score for young men dropped from 1.08 to around 0.45. “We find that lower mental health is highly correlated with self-reported feelings of social isolation as measured through friendship connections,” Dr La Cava said. The latest research comes as the Australian Government is exploring the “influence and impacts of social media on Australian society” as part of a parliamentary inquiry. The committee is examining how the decision of Meta to abandon deals under the News Media Bargaining Code will impact Australian media.