Mediating effect of sleep in the association between social media use and mental health among French adolescents during the COVID-19 sanitary crisis

Objective/background: Social media use could have deleterious effects on mental health through short sleep duration and poor sleep quality among adolescents. This study aimed to investigate the mediating role of both sleep duration and sleep quality in the association between social media use and mental health among adolescents.

Patients/methods: We used cross-sectional data collected from adolescents in the EXIST pilot project conducted during COVID-19 pandemic. Adolescents self-reported wellbeing (WEMWBS), anxiety and depression (HADS) as mental health outcomes. We used ad-hoc questionnaires to assess social media use during weekdays and weekend days, and sleep duration and quality. Mediation analyses were carried out following Baron and Kenny's method, using adjusted linear regression models.

Results: A total of 340 adolescents (13.5 ± 0.6 years, 45.3 % girls) were included. Greater social media use, poorer sleep quality, and shorter sleep duration were associated with poorer mental health. Greater social media use was associated with poorer sleep quality only during the weekend days. The total effect of social media use during weekend days on anxiety (β = 2.54; 95%CI [-1.59; 6.68]) was significantly conveyed through sleep quality (β = 1.22; 95%CI [0.17; 2.62]; mediated proportion = 48.0 %) and duration (mediated proportion = 46.8 %). Mediated proportions ranged from 12.5 % to 20.6 % for wellbeing and depression. Mediating effects were not evident during weekdays.

Conclusions: Sleep duration and quality mediated the association between social media use and mental health among adolescents during weekend days but not weekdays. Our findings highlight the importance of promoting healthy social media habits, especially during periods of increased reliance on digital platforms, such as COVID-19 pandemic.