Adolescence are more prone to become victims of anxiety due to social media and the internet. Researchers have studied the topic of adolescence and increased amounts of anxiety and psychological distress due to social media. Here is what was found.
Gender and Age Differences
According to the study conducted by McNicol, there is no difference between genders in the experience of anxiety due to internet addiction. It was found that both genders experience equal amounts of anxiety from the use of the internet (McNicol, 2017). However, in terms of internalizing symptoms of anxiety there is a significant difference between genders in how the anxiety manifests onto social media. Females are more likely to internalize anxious and depressive symptoms through rumination and fixation (see Causes of Anxiety for more information). Males are more likely to externalize anxious and depressive symptoms resulting in substance abuse and violence. It is also more common, and accepted, for females to internalize symptoms on social media in the form of corumination and receive positive affect from their peers for doing so. Males, however, receive negative affect from peers when they coruminate and internalize on social media. Gender roles determined by societal norms set up a construct in which males are supposed to seem tough and are not allowed to "complain" about their problems and female are allowed to. (Ehrenreich, 2016)
It was also found that age is a significant factor in who is more likely to result in internet addiction and anxiety. As we can conclude, the lower the age the higher the possibility of anxiety and internet addiction. The key predictors on anxiety and internet addiction in adolescence is high discussion forum use, high rumination, and low self-care. Also, Cleland Woods found that already anxious adolescents are most at risk for experiencing anxiety through social media use. Those who look to social media as a coping mechanism are only led to experience more anxiety. Adolescents who use social media late at night are more prone to experiencing anxiety because it leads to poor sleep quality and later bedtimes. On the other hand, anxious adolescents are also more prone to using social media at night when they are unable to sleep, resulting again in increased anxiety. Those who use night-time specific social media use are at a higher risk of anxiety than others. Having mental health issues also leads adolescents to turn to social media in bed as a sleeping aid or to regulate mood. Those who are emotional investment in social media are also at a high risk of anxiety. Adolescents who are more emotionally invested in social media use are more prone to experiencing anxiety because of the feeling of distress and isolation when they are not connect to social media constantly. (McNicol, 2017, Cleland Wood, 2016)
Time Spent and Self Esteem
The amount of time spent using Facebook and other social media platforms can affect an individual's self-perception. It can cause them to believe others are happier and experience better lives than their own. They are less likely to view life as being fair. The more time they spend on Facebook, the more they perceive the information as being true. What they see on social media, even if it is a positive posts, are more prone to become anxious due to the social comparison effect. The second predictor explained that having a lower self-esteem is related to spending too much time on social media. Those who spend much of their time on social media networks and constantly compare themselves to peers, photoshop, unrealistic body images, etc. are more prone to becoming anxious due to social media use. Not only does an individual's perception of social media sites affect their risk to exposure of anxiety, it affects their overall risk of psychological distress due to social media (Campisi, J. et al, 2017). Highly anxious individuals
INTROVERSION
People who are introverted are more likely to develop anxiety, especially trait anxiety. Introverts feel energized by being alone and get exhausted in highly social settings. Introverts are more aware of and sensitive to punishment cues and less aware of and less sensitive to reward cues. On social media introverts may be more likely to read into negative content and view negative posts by friends as being directed at them. They may also overlook positive comments and likes and only focus on who didn't like the content they posted. However, many positive aspects of social media aid in Overcoming Anxiety for introverts and shy individuals. (Steers et al., 2016)