Relationship between depression and the use of mobile technologies and social media among adolescents: an umbrella review

Abstract

Background:

Despite the relevance of mobile technologies and social media (MTSM) for adolescents, their association with depressive disorders in this population remains unclear. While there are previous reviews that have identified the use of MTSM as a risk factor for developing depression, other reviews have pointed out their possible preventive effect.

Objective:

The aim of this review was to synthesize the current evidence on the association of MTSM use on the development or prevention of depressive disorders in adolescents.

Methods:

An umbrella review was conducted using information up to June 2019 from PubMed/MEDLINE, PsycINFO, Web of Science and The Cochrane Library. Systematic reviews focusing on the adolescent population (up to 20 years old) and on depression and its potential relationship with MTSM use were included. A screening by title, abstract and full text was performed. After selecting the reviews, and given the heterogeneity of outcome variables and exposures, a narrative synthesis of the results was carried out.

Results:

The search retrieved 338 records from which 7 systematic reviews were selected for data extraction, two of which were meta-analyses. The number of studies included within the 7 reviews, ranged from 11 to 70 and the number of participants in each review from 5,582 to 46,015. All reviews included quantitative research within their studies and two also included qualitative studies. Two reviews reported a statistically significant association between social media and developing depressive symptoms, while five reported mixed results.

Conclusions:

Social comparison and excessive personal involvement when using MTSM could be associated with the development of depressive symptomatology. Nevertheless, MTSM might promote social support and even become a point of help for people with depression. Due to the mixed results found, prospective research could be valuable in providing stronger evidence.