Problematic patterns of social media use increase with spontaneous cortical activity and transdiagnostic mental health symptoms in youth
Nathan M Petro, Lauren K Webert, Kellen M McDonald, Jake J Son, Thomas W Ward, Danielle L Rice, Grace C Ende, Anna T Coutant, Erica L Steiner, Cooper L Livermore, Mikki Schantell, Abraham D Killanin, Giorgia Picci, Tony W Wilson · 2026
Read Problematic patterns of social media use increase with spontaneous cortical activity and transdiagnostic mental health symptoms in youth by Nathan M Petro, Lauren K Webert, Kellen M McDonald, Jake J Son, Thomas W Ward, Danielle L Rice, Grace C Ende, Anna T Coutant, Erica L Steiner, Cooper L Livermore, Mikki Schantell, Abraham D Killanin, Giorgia Picci, Tony W Wilson (2026) in the Tower of Babel, a free online library of public-domain works preserved in clean, searchable text. No sign-up. The full text is served as a plain-text file at a predictable URL, where text is present: https://antarctic-labs.com/tower-of-babel/pmc-13191277.txt.
Description
Nathan Petro and co-authors link, in a 2026 study, problematic social media use in youth to brain activity at rest and to mental health symptoms. Adolescents lean hard on peer contact, and apps now let that contact run at almost any hour. For some, use turns obsessive and crowds out the rest of life. The team studied 80 youths aged 8 to 16.
Each youth gave self-reports of use habits and health symptoms, and had brain activity recorded while at rest. Problematic use rose in step with spontaneous slow-wave activity in rear and side brain regions, and with a second slow rhythm in frontal regions. It also tracked with more inward symptoms, poor focus, and weaker self-regulation. The links held after age, sex, and total use time were taken into account. The authors warn that self-reports and a one-time snapshot limit what can be claimed.
Catalog record
| CREATOR | Nathan M Petro, Lauren K Webert, Kellen M McDonald, Jake J Son, Thomas W Ward, Danielle L Rice, Grace C Ende, Anna T Coutant, Erica L Steiner, Cooper L Livermore, Mikki Schantell, Abraham D Killanin, Giorgia Picci, Tony W Wilson |
|---|---|
| YEAR | 2026 |
| COLLECTION | PAPERS |
| FORMAT | TXT |
| FILE SIZE | 48 KB |
| VERSION | 1.0 |
| LICENSE | CC BY 4.0 |
| RIGHTS | CC BY |
| SOURCE | Europe PMC |