Aim: To review the association between social media use and adverse mental health and sleep effects among adolescents and adults.

Background: Previous research indicates that US adolescents and adults spend on average 8 – 10 hours a day on their smartphones. There is considerable variability in social media use within and outside the US. Much and often most of this time is spent on social media platforms. While there are studies that suggest that social media use can have adverse mental health and sleep impacts, few have investigated the relationships in depth, and fewer still are longitudinal analyses.

Results: Systematic search generated 9,202 research studies, of which 73 were included in this literature review based on examination of the following assessed variables: anxiety, depression, loneliness, social media network use and sleep quality. Strong positive associations between social media use and adverse mental health and sleep effects among adolescents and adults were detected overall in these studies.

Conclusion: This literature review confirms and strengthens the evidence that social media use is associated with adverse mental health and sleep effects among both adolescents and adults. Future research using other study designs is needed to better understand and develop interventions to mitigate the adverse effects on mental health and sleep quality of social media use.