Scrolling into Anxiety: Experimental Evidence from University Students

This paper provides evidence on the impact of social media exposure on anxiety among first-year university students in Argentina. While concerns about the mental health effects of social media are widespread, obtaining causal evidence is challenging. We conducted a randomized survey experiment in which participants are exposed to brief, realistic social media scenarios, such as receiving no feedback on a post or viewing idealized content, while a placebo group is assigned to neutral stimuli. Immediately after exposure, we measure state anxiety using the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI). We find that exposure to these hypothetical scenarios increases anxiety by 0.09 standard deviations relative to the placebo group, with larger effects among male participants. These findings highlight that even short, simulated digital experiences can have meaningful psychological effects, with important implications for the design of policies and interventions targeting youth wellbeing.