Doomscrolling linked to anxiety and depression – True
Question asked:
“Doomscrolling is linked to increased anxiety and depression.”
Summary
Recent research consistently finds that doomscrolling is associated with higher levels of anxiety and depression. Systematic reviews and meta‑analyses published up to 2026 report moderate positive correlations between doomscrolling and both anxiety and depressive symptoms. This link is supported across multiple studies and populations.
Sources 60 searched
- Doomscrolling Scale: its Association with Personality Traits ...
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- Doomscrolling during COVID-19: The negative association between daily social and traditional media consumption and mental health symptoms during the COVID-19 pandemic - PMC
The results from the present study demonstrated that regular social media exposure is associated with an increase in depression and PTSD, even when accounting for pre-pandemic mental health. This result highlights a major challenge imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic – remaining informed is ...
- Doomsurfing and doomscrolling mediate psychological distress in COVID‐19 lockdown: Implications for awareness of cognitive biases - PMC
4. WIRED . Doomscrolling is slowly eroding your mental health.
- Impact of doomscrolling on Stress, emotional Distress, and anhedonia among women aged 20–59: A Cross-Sectional survey - ScienceDirect
Guided by negativity bias theory, which explains individual’s predisposition to focus on negative stimuli, the research explores how doomscrolling perpetuates psychological distress and disrupts emotional well-being. A cross-sectional survey design was employed with 105 women completing validated measures, including the Doomscrolling Scale (DSS-15), Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-4), Depression Anxiety Stress Scale (DASS-10), and Snaith-Hamilton Pleasure Scale (SHAPS-14).
- The influence of doomscrolling on mental health: a scoping review - ScienceDirect
Theoretical explanations emphasised rumination, emotional exhaustion and intolerance of uncertainty. Across predominantly cross-sectional studies, consistent associations were found with anxiety, depression, stress and reduced resilience.
- Doomscrolling: Stop the scroll, protect your mental health - Mayo Clinic Press
Doomscrolling also may worsen mood in other ways. Sleep procrastination. If youdoomscroll in the evening, you may struggle to stop, consequently staying up long past your bedtime. This loss of sleep can affect your mood the following day. “Sleep disruption doesn’t make us the nicest to be around. We’re less tolerant and more impatient the following day,” says Dr. Sawchuk. Worsened social health.
- Doomscrolling dangers - Harvard Health
An August 2024 study of 800 adults published in Computers in Human Behavior Reports reinforces those findings, suggesting doomscrolling evokes greater levels of existential anxiety - a feeling of dread or panic that arises when we confront the ...
- Frontiers | Doomscrolling, mental health, and psychological well-being in adolescents and adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis
Doomscrolling was associated with anxiety (r = 0.35, 95% CI 0.27–0.43), depression (r = 0.35, 95% CI 0.16–0.52), psychological distress (r = 0.51, 95% CI 0.37–0.62), lower psychological well-being (r = −0.29, 95% CI − 0.38 to −0.20), ...
- Emerging evidence on doomscrolling: A scoping review of empirical studies | Journal of Social Media Research
Emerging evidence on doomscrolling: A scoping review of empirical studies. Journal of Social Media Research, 3(2), 162–171. https://doi.org/10.29329/jsomer.102 ... Vol. 3 No. 2 (2026): Volume 3 Issue 2 (June)
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