A survey led by researchers from the Center for Quantitative Health at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School has analyzed the association between self-reported social media use and irritability among US adults. Frequent social media use, especially among active posters, was correlated with higher levels of irritability.
Existing studies on social media and mental health predominantly focus on depressive symptoms, with limited attention to other negative emotions such as irritability. Irritability, defined as a tendency toward anger and frustration, has been linked to functional impairments, poorer mental health outcomes, and suicidal behaviors.
While prior research has established connections between social media use and depressive symptoms, the extent to which social media engagement is associated with irritability or its influence on depression and anxiety has remained uncertain.
In the study, “Irritability and Social Media Use in US Adults,” published in JAMA Network Open, the research team used data from two waves of the COVID States Project, a nationwide nonprobability web-based survey conducted between November 2, 2023, and January 8, 2024, which included questions about social media use and irritability.
Researchers evaluated the relationship between social media use and irritability by analyzing responses from 42,597 participants using multiple linear regression models.
The survey collected sociodemographic data, self-reported social media usage, and measures of irritability. Participants completed the Brief Irritability Test (BITe), which consists of five statements evaluating irritability symptoms over the previous two weeks. Scores range from 5 to 30, with higher scores indicating higher levels of irritability. The analysis also included depression and anxiety metrics to account for overlapping psychological symptoms.
Social media use was categorized based on frequency: never, less than once per week, once per week, several times per week, once per day, several times per day, or most of the day. Platforms analyzed included Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter/X. Frequency of active posting, political engagement, and political affiliation were also examined to identify potential confounding factors.
Participants had a mean age of 46 years, with 58.5% identifying as women, 40.4% as men, and 1.1% as nonbinary. Among respondents, 78.2% reported daily use of at least one social media platform. Frequent social media use correlated with higher irritability scores, even after adjusting for anxiety and depression.
For example, participants using social media most of the day scored 3.37 points higher on the BITe in unadjusted models. After adjusting for anxiety and depression, the increase remained significant at 1.55 points.
Platform-specific analyses revealed a dose-response relationship between posting frequency and irritability. Posting multiple times per day was associated with the highest irritability levels across all platforms, with TikTok users showing the largest increase (1.94 points; 95% CI, 1.57-2.32 points).
Political engagement variables, such as frequent political posting or consuming political news, were associated with increased irritability. Political engagement did not diminish the observed relationship between social media use and irritability, though following political news “not very closely” was associated with a slight decrease.
High social media engagement levels, particularly frequent posting, were associated with greater irritability in US adults. While the study could not establish direct causation, findings suggest a potential feedback loop relationship, where irritability may both influence a desire to engage and increase irritation from social media use.
Further research is needed to explore the mechanisms driving this association and its implications for public health, as well as possible intervention strategies.
More information: Roy H. Perlis et al, Irritability and Social Media Use in US Adults, JAMA Network Open (2025). DOI: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2024.52807
News
This Startup Says It Can Clean Your Blood of Microplastics
This is a non-exhaustive list of places microplastics have been found: Mount Everest, the Mariana Trench, Antarctic snow, clouds, plankton, turtles, whales, cattle, birds, tap water, beer, salt, human placentas, semen, breast milk, feces, testicles, [...]
New Blood Test Detects Alzheimer’s and Tracks Its Progression With 92% Accuracy
The new test could help identify which patients are most likely to benefit from new Alzheimer’s drugs. A newly developed blood test for Alzheimer’s disease not only helps confirm the presence of the condition but also [...]
The CDC buried a measles forecast that stressed the need for vaccinations
This story was originally published on ProPublica, a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up to receive our biggest stories as soon as they’re published. ProPublica — Leaders at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [...]
Light-Driven Plasmonic Microrobots for Nanoparticle Manipulation
A recent study published in Nature Communications presents a new microrobotic platform designed to improve the precision and versatility of nanoparticle manipulation using light. Led by Jin Qin and colleagues, the research addresses limitations in traditional [...]
Cancer’s “Master Switch” Blocked for Good in Landmark Study
Researchers discovered peptides that permanently block a key cancer protein once thought untreatable, using a new screening method to test their effectiveness inside cells. For the first time, scientists have identified promising drug candidates [...]
AI self-cloning claims: A new frontier or a looming threat?
Chinese scientists claim that some AI models can replicate themselves and protect against shutdown. Has artificial intelligence crossed the so-called red line? Chinese researchers have published two reports on arXiv claiming that some artificial [...]
New Drug Turns Human Blood Into Mosquito-Killing Weapon
Nitisinone, a drug for rare diseases, kills mosquitoes when present in human blood and may become a new tool to fight malaria, offering longer-lasting, environmentally safer effects than ivermectin. Controlling mosquito populations is a [...]
DNA Microscopy Creates 3D Maps of Life From the Inside Out
What if you could take a picture of every gene inside a living organism—not with light, but with DNA itself? Scientists at the University of Chicago have pioneered a revolutionary imaging technique called volumetric DNA microscopy. It builds [...]
Scientists Just Captured the Stunning Process That Shapes Chromosomes
Scientists at EMBL have captured how human chromosomes fold into their signature rod shape during cell division, using a groundbreaking method called LoopTrace. By observing overlapping DNA loops forming in high resolution, they revealed that large [...]
Bird Flu Virus Is Mutating Fast – Scientists Say Our Vaccines May Not Be Enough
H5N1 influenza is evolving rapidly, weakening the effectiveness of existing antibodies and increasing its potential threat to humans. Scientists at UNC Charlotte and MIT used high-performance computational modeling to analyze thousands of viral protein-antibody interactions, revealing [...]
Revolutionary Cancer Vaccine Targets All Solid Tumors
The method triggers immune responses that inhibit melanoma, triple-negative breast cancer, lung carcinoma, and ovarian cancer. Cancer treatment vaccines have been in development since 2010, when the first was approved for prostate cancer, followed [...]
Scientists Uncover Hidden Protein Driving Autoimmune Attacks
Scientists have uncovered a critical piece of the puzzle in autoimmune diseases: a protein that helps release immune response molecules. By studying an ultra-rare condition, researchers identified ArfGAP2 as a key player in immune [...]
Mediterranean neutrino observatory sets new limits on quantum gravity
Quantum gravity is the missing link between general relativity and quantum mechanics, the yet-to-be-discovered key to a unified theory capable of explaining both the infinitely large and the infinitely small. The solution to this [...]
Challenging Previous Beliefs: Japanese Scientists Discover Hidden Protector of Heart
A Japanese research team found that the oxidized form of glutathione (GSSG) may protect heart tissue by modifying a key protein, potentially offering a novel therapeutic approach for ischemic heart failure. A new study [...]
Millions May Have Long COVID – So Why Can’t They Get Diagnosed?
Millions of people in England may be living with Long Covid without even realizing it. A large-scale analysis found that nearly 10% suspect they might have the condition but remain uncertain, often due to [...]
Researchers Reveal What Happens to Your Brain When You Don’t Get Enough Sleep
What if poor sleep was doing more than just making you tired? Researchers have discovered that disrupted sleep in older adults interferes with the brain’s ability to clean out waste, leading to memory problems [...]
