Association between problematic social media use and memory performance in a sample of Lebanese adults: the mediating effect of anxiety, depression, stress and insomnia

Considered as one of the most essential aspects of life, memory is the brain’s filling system. It contains everything a person has learned in the past [1]. Memory could be best defined as the mental capacity to retain and preserve information, in order to retrieve them when needed. To go more in depth, memory consists of three main types, which cooperate together in forming lasting information [2]. Our sensory memory allows to retain sensory data after the stimulus has disappeared, such as smells and voices. Our short-term memory holds information only for a few seconds, and our long-term memory allows us to store information for long lapses of time, sometimes up to a lifetime. Researchers have always given serious attention to the factors that influence memory processing in humans [3] and these factors can also be split into two big categories: organic illnesses such as tumors, molecular abnormalities, neuronal damage, scarcity and over activity, and psyche related disorders such as mental and emotion-related conditions. New studies suggest that a variety of mental health disorders, along with daily habits and behaviors, come into play when considering memory performance and forgetfulness [4]. That being said, given how most mental health conditions are characterized by both organic and psychological underlying abnormalities we couldn’t help but ask, could certain mental health disorders affect our memory performance?

In recent years, social media use has remarkably increased and has reached over 2 billion users worldwide [5, 6]. De facto, according to a study made in 2018, 45% of adolescents and young adults declared being constantly online [5, 6]. Despite the massive benefits of technology such as fast access to information, easy connection with communities all over the world, entertainment and business development, increasing use of social network sites can lead to the potential risk of addiction, known as “problematic social media use”. Over and above that, a study targeting adolescent social media use pinpointed the different impacts of active and passive social media use on teenagers [7]. The influence of pathological social media use on cognitive functions and memory remains a central topic of investigation. For example, a study conducted by Liu et al. confirmed that reliance on online searching and excessive social media use impede memory retrieval by reducing the functional connectivity and synchronization of associated brain regions [8].

Moreover, depression, anxiety, stress and insomnia are common disorders in primary care settings, with high chances of co-existence. According to a study conducted among American adults in 2006, the prevalence of depression increased from 3.33 to 7.06% in a period of 10 years [9]. Decades of research have investigated the impact of depression on memory. In fact, Schweizer et al. linked symptoms of depression with subjective memory complaints [10]. Additionally, results of a study conducted by Balderston et al. suggest that cognitive and memory deficits may represent a key component of clinical anxiety [11]. Additionally, a systematic review showed that all four studied domains of social media (Time spent, activity, investment, and addiction) were correlated with depression, anxiety, and psychological disturbances [12]. Furthermore, a recent and growing body of evidence has indicated that sleep is related to cognitive abilities [13]. For instance, Cohen-Zion et al. proved that among patients with chronic insomnia, reductions in neurocognitive performance are associated with increasingly severe sleep disorders over time [14]. Last but not least, studies have shown that adrenal hormones such as catecholamine and glucocorticoids are released into the organism in response to stress. These hormones affect the limbic system in the brain and thus can affect our memory function in different ways. It has been shown that endogenous catecholamine secretion strengthen memory in contrast to glucocorticoids. The latter was the topic of many controversial findings; some suggests that these hormones enhance memory performance others advocate their potential disruptive effect [15], making the search for the truth ever so important.

Aiming to better understand the phenomena at play, a theoretical framework was deducted based on extensive literature research and illustrated in Fig. 1 below. First, social networking, media consumption and naturally therefore Problematic Social Media Use (PSMU), were positively correlated with lower memory performance. These findings applied to both quality/clarity of memory recollection as well as quantity of memories stored [16‐18]. Second, emotional disorders such as depression, insomnia and stress were also shown to have deleterious consequences on our memory function [19, 20]. That being said, the effects of stress are regulated by numerous significant factors and thus it is of importance to note that according to recent studies, stress adversely affects some episodic memory processes whilst improving others [21]. Concerning anxiety, controversial results were elucidated: some studies emphasis that anxiety did not induce lower memory performance (in contrast to depression), whilst others attempt to explain how anxiety has the same repercussions on memory as the other mood disorders [22]. Finally, people suffering from these psychiatric disorders, more specifically emotional disorders, are more prone to develop addictive disorders such as PSMU [23]. To boot, previous results indicated that social anxiety lead to favoring computer mediated over face to face communication [24]. Reciprocally, individuals with greater PSMU levels neglect some aspects of their lives thus contributing to the development of depressive symptoms. With all that in mind, given how the literature illustrates this complex relationship suggests that certain mental health disorders like anxiety, depression, stress and insomnia might play an intermediate role between PSMU and memory performance, hence mediating their correlation.

To summarize, memory is fundamentally a vital biological function crucial for our survival. The progress that has been made in the past few decades elucidating the factors affecting memory and forgetfulness has provided useful insight into how memories might be enhanced [25]. Nevertheless, more studies are needed to better understand the relationship between memory performance and certain mental health disorders, particularly depression, anxiety, stress and insomnia. What’s more, considering our society’s newly found interest in social networking and given the progressive unraveling of its adverse effects on our psyche and cognitive skills [26], we found great potential in analyzing the relationship between memory function and Problematic Social Media Use (PSMU). In addition, research projects taking on similar subjects in Lebanon are still scarce, hence underlining the necessity of diving deeper into this matter and making the pursuit of this topic ever so compelling. Finally, bearing in mind that mental disorders are among the most common health problems in Lebanon [27], it is of great importance to highlight and expose their potential repercussions, notably on our memory. For all of that, the objective of this study was to evaluate any association between problematic social media use, depression, anxiety, stress, and insomnia vs memory performance among a representative sample of Lebanese people.

The mean memory performance score was 31.71 ± 9.88 (median = 31; minimum = 6; maximum = 52), problematic social media use (PSMU) scale 8.15 ± 5.71, depression 9.84 ± 9.14, anxiety 15.00 ± 10.73, stress 18.24 ± 5.28 and insomnia 68.99 ± 12.79.

Until this moment, this is the first study conducted among the Lebanese population evaluating the association between problematic social media use and memory work. Our pursuit of this topic is backed up by the fact that recent studies have pointed to a significant up rise in social media activity around the world during the past few years [5, 6, 42]; thus sparking our interest in evaluating the potential deleterious consequences of SNSs (Social Networking Sites). In addition, this study also explores the correspondence between various mood disorders such as depression, anxiety, stress, and insomnia on memory performance. After computing all the data collected, our results clearly stated that the amount of time spent on social media was correlated to lower memory performance as well as increased anxiety, but was not associated with depression and stress.

Our study focused on the effects of problematic social media use on memory performance. In agreement with other studies, the results revealed a clear correlation coupling higher social network sites (SNS) use to lower memory work [16, 17, 43‐46]. Literature displayed a modest amount of articles that interpreted this relationship. De facto, this occurrence was primarily linked to “semantic memory” which is the memory of facts and common knowledge, not gained by personal experiences. The constant access to information via the internet will replace the need for certain types of memory, predominantly, the semantic memory. Furthermore, it was demonstrated that increased handling of all activities on the internet will lead to anatomical changes in the grey matter of the brain’s cortex, therefore influencing not only memory but also impulse control and decision making [17]. In other words, social media consumption, and more specifically PSMU, can alter our body’s biological composition in a way that suits the technology most. Given our headed direction in the tech world and the high probability that SNSs are only going to get more popular in the coming years, these findings could represent the starting point of a long-term evolutionary change in the way our minds are structured and the way they process information.

Moreover, our study demonstrated an essential factor that affected memory as well as played a mediating role between our two main variables. This subject was previously discussed and various contradictory theories were given across the literature. On one hand, our results linked anxiety to decreased memory work and this was in opposite to some of the previously published studies [47, 48]. For instance, some demonstrate that symptoms of anxiety alone (excluding symptoms of depression) did not display any significant detrimental consequences on any aspects of memory functioning, in contrast to other types of mood disorders [47]. This could be interpreted through the “lack of motivation” that other types of mood disorders have. Actually, some even go to say that a moderate level of anxiety may have a beneficial outcome on cognition and memory [47]. On the other hand, in correspondence with our results, some studies emphasized that anxiety correlates with lower memory and thus decreased academic performances [11, 49, 50]. This was justified by the possible influence of different mood disorders including anxiety on the verbal working memory and the central executive memory which both are mandatory in educational performance [51]. In fact, worrying takes up a portion of our working memory capacity which means that less residual working memory capacity will be available whenever we are thinking of worrisome affairs [50]. Moreover, a characteristic aspect of anxiety is narrow control on worrying ideas and attentional biases, which can lead to greater focus on negative stimuli disrupting memory and cognitive performances [52]. Furthermore, the relationship between anxiety and addictive disorders is a bidirectional relationship. People suffering from anxiety are more at risk of developing addictive disorders such as PSMU [23], and PSMU leads to increased anxiety due to the famous “fear of missing out” [53]. Overall, all this information could also explain anxiety’s partial mediation role between PSMU and memory performance. Provided the divergence in results across the literature, and considering that we cannot ignore the potential threat of anxiety influencing our youth’s memory and cognitive functions, we find it ever so important to encourage deeper investigations concerning this topic with the purpose of unraveling the truth behind these interactions. For that, we believe our findings will play a role in clearing and detailing the extremely heterogeneous image of anxiety disorders and their correlations with cognitive deviations, all whilst refining our diagnostic skills.

Finally, multivariable analysis results did not associate depression, stress and insomnia to lower memory performance. These findings oppose previous literature [47, 50, 51]. In fact, it has been suggested that depressive symptoms alone (excluding symptoms of anxiety) affect the prompt recall of new information and their amount of acquisition, but did not affect either retrieval nor retention of memory [47]. The latter study suggested that memory difficulties are mostly reported in individuals who suffers from coexistent mood disorders [47]. However, our results did not demonstrate such relationship. This can be explained by the fact that the depression, anxiety, stress and insomnia scales were all self-reported questionnaires and were not administered by a psychologist or psychiatrist, therefore possibly affecting said results’ reliability. Similarly, the memory awareness rating scale (MARS) was not carried out by specialists, which might explain the negative association concluded.

To conclude, concerning problematic social media use, a clear correlation was demonstrated in this study linking it to lower memory performance, with this association being partially mediated by anxiety. Future studies should evaluate the possible mechanisms and methods for effective awareness especially towards the younger generation. Concerning anxiety, it obviously affected certain types of memory leading to lower memory functioning and thus decreased academic performance. Therefore, it is a must to highlight the importance of diagnosing and treating anxiety and depression that are recently increasing over the decades in order to avoid their negative sequels.