Internalizing can involve social withdrawal, difficulty coping with anxiety or depression or directing feelings inward. Externalizing can include aggression, acting out, disobeying or other observable behaviors.
The study found no significant association with social media use and externalizing problems alone
Teens who spent at least three hours on social media a day had the greatest risk for reporting internalizing problems alone
Researchers also found that 611 respondents, or about 9 percent, reported experiencing only internalizing problems, while 885, or 14 percent, reported experiencing externalizing problems only; 1,169, or about 18 percent, reported experiencing both internal and external problems;
Setting reasonable boundaries, improving the design of social media platforms and focusing interventions on media literacy are all ways in which we can potentially find this equilibrium."
Kira E. Riehm, Kenneth A. Feder, Kayla N. Tormohlen, Rosa M. Crum, Andrea S. Young, Kerry M. Green, Lauren R. Pacek, Lareina N. La Flair, Ramin Mojtabai. Associations Between Time Spent Using Social Media and Internalizing and Externalizing Problems Among US Youth. JAMA Psychiatry, 2019; 1 DOI: 10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2019.2325