More than half of U.S. college students report feeling lonely, according to a study published this week in the Journal of American College Health.
The study, conducted at the University of Cincinnati, examined data from nearly 65,000 students at more than 120 colleges. Researchers found that students who used social media at least 16 hours a week, or more than two hours a day, had significantly higher odds of reporting loneliness.
Assistant professor Sasha Zhou works to understand and address the mental health needs of young adults and college students through her work at the Department of Public Health at Wayne State University in Detroit, Mich.
5 questions with Sasha Zhou
Why are so many college students lonely?
“Using social media, not surprisingly, it’s replacing real-world interactions, meaningful real-world interactions. It could be worsening isolation that already exists, certainly exacerbating anything that’s already existing.
“I think for college students and even adults beyond college years, excessive time online can really crowd out offline interactions. It crowds out sleep too and campus involvement and erodes a lot of these networks that actually protect and work against loneliness.”
Dr. Vivek Murthy, the former Surgeon General, declared loneliness an epidemic in 2023. Do you see it that way?
“I think college students are particularly vulnerable because they’re at this time in their lives, from a developmental perspective, where they’re leaving their existing social networks. Many are living away from home for the first time. They’re adjusting to new environments and redefining their childhood identities.
“Then you think about the structure of colleges and how it really fosters sometimes fragmented relationships: large lectures, changing your roommates, short academic terms. It already makes it hard to move from acquaintances to having secure friendships. And then you add this layer of social media where we know that, from existing studies for college students in particular, this heavy use, this passive use can really exploit these existing vulnerabilities already happening at this developmental stage.”
How is loneliness connected to other mental health symptoms?
“There is a strong connection between loneliness and mental health symptoms. Loneliness is a risk factor for depression and anxiety. We know that chronic loneliness elevates stress hormones. It’s related to raised blood pressure. It increases general severe psychological distress.
“I think for this age range in particular, it’s significant because we’re at an epidemiologically vulnerable stage. This traditional age of college students directly coincides with age of onset for lifetime mental illness — 75% of lifetime mental illness will onset by age 24. So many college students are actually experiencing mental health symptoms for the first time or an intensification of an underlying concern. And then you add chronic loneliness to this, and you add another layer of social media, and we do have a really concerning situation at hand.”
What can colleges and universities do? How can universities help?
“There’s some evidence, research evidence out there, where interventions that target the passive use of social media — limiting scrolling time, nudging students to be more active and purposeful in their online engagement — that’s shown promise in improving mood and reducing loneliness.
“There’s a report coming out of our research team, the Healthy Minds Network, on peer support programs and its evidence around effectiveness. These programs complement clinical care as a way that you can really build connection and belonging. There’s peer-led education, group-based support, advocacy groups, online peer forums and so forth.
“As a professor who teaches undergrads, I think about social connectedness all the time in my course design. I really try to incorporate a lot of small-group work into my courses and semester-long projects to give students this opportunity to really get to know a smaller group of their peers. Because I think just having consistent time in person with other students and other peers is really important when we’re addressing things like loneliness.”
Do you have any suggestions or advice for parents of college kids?
“Making sure you know what the warning signs are. It is hard to connect with your child in the same way when they’re in a different state or a different region of the same state. Watching for warning signs, sleep changes, withdrawal both from you, social withdrawal, appetite or mood changes, increased substance use. These are warning signs that are fairly common in changing mental health states. Helping with practical steps like insurance, which is so objectively complicated, could also be really helpful.
“I can’t emphasize enough, normalizing common struggles, making friends, coursework, being challenging, feeling homesick. These are all normal things. Let’s talk about them. Let’s talk about how important it is to care for our mental health and reinforce habits that can improve our well-being. I think sleep for college students is huge. College students do not sleep enough. They are not eating regular meals, often nutritious meals, prioritizing some movement during the day, especially outside. So these healthy habits of life, reinforcing those when you’re away from your child is important and then of course, breaks from screens and socializing in person as much as possible.”
This interview was edited for clarity.
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Jenna Griffiths produced and edited this interview for broadcast with Catherine Welch. Griffiths also adapted it for the web.
This article was originally published on WBUR.org.
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