A recent study conducted by the McKinsey Health Institute reported that Gen Zers, on average, are more likely than other generations to cite negative feelings about social media. New data on the impact of social media use on mental health across the world shows just how damaging it is to Gen Zers. It found one in four Gen Z members – those born in the late 1990s and early 2000s – connect spending a lot of time on these platforms with poorer mental health.
About 42,000 respondents in 26 countries across continents were surveyed about the four dimensions of health: mental, physical, social and spiritual. Gen Z ranked worst across all of these categories. Millennials were next, followed by Gen Xers and baby boomers. One in seven baby boomers said their mental health had declined over the past three years, compared with one in four Gen Z respondents.
Although millennials reported being more active on social media – 32 per cent said they posted at least once a day – Gen Z spends the most amount of time on the apps, but more passively. The study shows that 35 per cent of Gen Z respondents spend over two hours on social media daily compared with 24 per cent of millennials and 14 per cent of baby boomers.
Studies have shown that passive social media use, like endlessly scrolling, could be linked with declines in well-being over time. The negative impact of social media increases substantially for younger ages overall.
At 21 per cent, female Gen Zers, in particular, were almost twice as likely to report poor mental health when compared with their male counterparts, 13 per cent of whom reported poor mental health. A higher portion of female Gen Zers reported poor or distorted body image and self-confidence as negative impacts of social media.
But social media is not all bad – Gen Zers are also utilizing technology and social media as an avenue for mental health support and as “a source of psychological resilience”.