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Hopelab & Well Being Trust 69 Self-presentation and comparison to others. One concern many advocates have had is the degree to which young people feel what is sometimes called "presentation pressure" – the pressure to always have to present their "best selves" online. Interestingly, young people with depressive symptoms are not significantly more likely than their non-depressed peers to "strongly agree" that they feel like they have to present their best selves online (18% of moderate to severely depressed youth, compared to 13% of those with no symptoms). A total of 63% agree at least "somewhat" with the statement (as do 50% of those with no depression), indicating that this pressure does pose at least some level of concern for a majority of young people with depressive symptoms, and half of non-depressed youth. A third of young people with moderate to severe depressive symptoms say that when they use social media, they "often" feel that other people are doing better than they are, a rate far higher than that among non-depressed youth (32% compared to 7%). They are also far more likely than their non-depressed peers to say that when they use social media they often feel left out (18% "strongly agree" compared to 1%). Source: Hopelab/Well Being Trust Teens and Young Adults Survey, February-March 2018. N=1,242 social media users ages 14-22. Note: Superscripts are used to denote statistical significance across rows at p <.05. Only those items with no common superscript differ from one another significantly. Items with no superscripts, and items that share a common superscript, are not significantly different. Table 15: Response to social media use, by depressive symptoms Among 14- to 22-year-old social media users, percent who say they experience the following when using social media: None Mild Moderate to severe Feel like other people are doing better than they are Feel left out Use social media as a way to avoid dealing with your problems Often Often Often Strongly agree Strongly agree Strongly agree Often/Sometimes Often/Sometimes Often/Sometimes Strongly/somewhat Strongly/somewhat Strongly/somewhat 7%ª 1%ª 3%ª 13% 4%ª 4%ª 46%ª 21%ª 16%ª 50% 35%ª 25%ª 17% b 8% b 6% 14% 9%ª 5%ª 70% b 39% b 38% b 49% 51% b 35% 32% c 18% c 14% b 18% 21% b 17% b 64% b 57% c 39% b 63% 65% b 42% b Feel like they always need to show the best version of themselves online See so much bad news in social media that it makes them stressed and anxious Prefer to communicate with people through social media than in person Social Media Use and Mental Well-Being Social Media Use Among Young People With and Without Depressive Symptoms Depressive symptoms

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