According to the first author of the new study, which featured in the Journal of Social & Clinical Psychology, no scientific study has proven a causal connection between the two until now.
University of Pennsylvania psychologist Melissa G. Hunt believes that her team is responsible for the first experimental study of Facebook, Snapchat, and Instagram use.
She argues that previous studies were either limited in scope or used “unrealistic situations,” such as monitoring participants for only brief periods in laboratory settings.