Association Between Social Media Use, Sleep Disturbances, Psychological Symptoms, and Overweight/Obesity Among Older Adults: A Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

Background: Social media is increasingly used in later life, but its relationships with sleep, psychological health, and body weight among older adults remain uncertain.
Aim: To examine associations between social-media-use frequency and sleep disturbance, depressive symptoms, BMI, and overweight/obesity among adults aged 65 years or older.
Methods: A cross-sectional analysis used 2022 Health and Retirement Study data from adults aged 65 years or older. Social-media exposure was classified as non-use, occasional use, or frequent use from three frequency items. Outcomes were a sleep-disturbance score, CES-D-8 depressive symptoms, body mass index (BMI), and overweight/obesity (BMI ≥25 kg/m²). Multivariable linear, Poisson, and logistic regression models adjusted for age, sex, education, marital status, smoking, alcohol use, physical activity, and self-rated health, with standard errors clustered by household.
Results: Of 8,975 adults aged 65 years or older, 2,748 had usable social-media data. Adjusted sleep disturbance did not differ for occasional users (mean difference [MD] = 0.05, 95% CI -0.23 to 0.34) or frequent users (MD = 0.00, 95% CI -0.20 to 0.20) relative to non-users. CES-D-8 symptom counts were also not independently associated with social-media frequency. BMI was higher among occasional users (MD = 0.81 kg/m², 95% CI 0.03 to 1.58) and frequent users (MD = 1.18 kg/m², 95% CI 0.61 to 1.74), with a positive dose-response trend (0.58 kg/m² per category; p < .001). The adjusted overweight/obesity outcome was not significant.
Conclusion: Social-media use was not independently associated with sleep disturbance or depressive symptoms, but more frequent use was associated with higher BMI. Longitudinal, survey-weighted research is needed to clarify temporality and mechanisms underlying this association.
Recommendations: Future longitudinal, survey-weighted studies should measure the timing, duration, purpose, and active or passive nature of social-media use and examine behavioral pathways linking digital engagement with BMI.