Study: Social media break drastically improves young women's mental health

TORONTO (KXAN) -- Logging off of social media could have major health benefits.

A new study from researchers at York University in Toronto found young women who stayed off of social media for a week reported higher body satisfaction and self-esteem.

Researchers noted that while the negative effects of social media are well documented, there hasn't been much study into the positive effects of staying off of it.

Before taking a break, the researchers asked a group of 85 daily social media users, all women ages 17-24, to fill out a questionnaire scoring their body image and self-esteem.

From there the group was split up, with one continuing to use social media as normal, and the other logging off for the next seven days.

"We saw that the women who had been in the one-week break group had significantly better or more positive self-esteem and body image compared to the group that continued with their normal use," said York University Psychology Professor Jennifer Mills.

To ensure the integrity of the study, researchers had study participants download app-tracking software to monitor their social media use.

After screening out participants who didn't follow the instructions, or didn't report back in a timely manner, the group was whittled down to 66.

As for why body image and self-esteem improved, Mills believes the answer is twofold.

"It gave people the opportunity to get away from one of the things that we know is particularly harmful on social media, which is social comparison," she said. "The other thing is that they could have replaced, and in many cases participants talked about replacing social media with other kinds of healthy activities."

Mills said those healthier alternatives included sleeping, meeting with friends and family face-to-face, exercising, and going outdoors.

In terms of what the public should take from this study, Mills recommends people take a good hard took at how they feel when they're using social media, and plan a course of action based off of that.

"I think putting limits on the amount of social media time makes sense," she said. "When we look at the research, it would suggest that the less time you spend on it, the better in terms of your mental health."