Increased social media use linked to worse mental health in teen girls 

A new study of nearly 10,000 teens in the U.K. finds that frequent social media use is associated with worse mental health in girls. Researchers asked teens about their social media usage and were later also asked to take a questionnaire about their mental health. More than a quarter of girls who had previously reported checking social media many times daily reported anxiety and lower rates of happiness than those who accessed such sites on a weekly basis or even less frequently. The study didn’t find a similarly discernible effect in boys. The researchers found that the mental health outcomes in girls could be linked to cyberbullying, as well as a lack of sleep and physical activity. Encouraging reduced social media use may be misplaced, the authors write, and suggest that interventions should instead target cyberbullying and recommend more sleep and exercise.