Risks and Benefits of Social Media Use for Bullying Victims: Suicidality and Mental Health Among U.S. Adolescents

Introduction: Adolescents’ social media use (SMU) is deeply embedded in daily life, yet its role in mental health remains inconsistent and has paid limited attention to how these associations vary across contexts of adversity. A dominant discourse often links greater engagement to cybervictimization and psychological distress. At the same time, emerging evidence indicates its potential as a coping resource, providing access to peer support, identity affirmation, and crisis intervention platforms. This tension underscores a critical question: under what conditions does SMU amplify vulnerability, and when might it offer meaningful protection? Bullying victimization—across the online/offline boundary—represents a salient context, given its strong links to psychological distress and suicidality. Addressing these gaps, the present study examines how different forms of victimization shape the dual role of SMU in adolescents’ mental health.

Methods: Using nationally representative data from the U.S. 2023 Youth Risk Behavior Survey (N = 15,705, aged 12–20), the study examined the moderating role of SMU in the associations with bullying victimization and adolescents’ mental health outcomes. Two binary dependent variables were examined: suicidality (any ideation, plan, or attempt) and poor mental health (frequent depression, anxiety, or stress) using logistic regressions. The focal independent variable was bullying victimization, categorized as none, offline-only, online-only, or dual. SMU was assessed based on the frequency of daily use. Covariates included age, sex, sexual orientation, race-ethnicity, school avoidance, and parental mental health. Weighted multiple logistic regressions with multiple imputation were conducted (20 datasets) using Stata version 19.5 SE.

Results: Bullying victimization was strongly associated with both suicidality and poor mental health, with the largest effects observed for dual victimization (suicidality: OR = 3.37, p < .001; poor mental health: OR = 2.07, p < .001), followed by offline-only (suicidality: OR = 1.72, p < .001; poor mental health: OR = 1.71, p < .001) and online-only victimization (suicidality: OR = 1.97, p < .001; poor mental health: OR = 1.58, p < .001). Social media use showed mixed associations: greater use was associated with higher odds of poor mental health (OR = 1.07, p < .01) but lower odds of suicidality (OR = 0.95, p < .01). Moderation analyses indicated that among adolescents experiencing dual victimization, higher social media use was associated with reduced odds of suicidality (OR = 0.86, p < .01). In contrast, greater social media use amplified the association with poor mental health among adolescents exposed to online-only (OR = 1.14, p < .05) and dual victimization (OR = 1.18, p < .01).

Conclusions & Implications: Social media engagement may attenuate the risk of acute crises among bullying-victimized adolescents while exacerbating broader emotional distress. Adolescents experiencing dual victimization may particularly benefit from prioritized and coordinated interventions that integrate school-based mental health services with digital safety education, online risk monitoring, and structured access to supportive online peer networks. Effective policies and interventions should move beyond the oversimplified “screen time” narrative by accounting for qualitative dimensions of SMU. Broader discussions are needed to identify appropriate intervention entry points and timing.