Published : 26 Sep 2026, 01:52 PM
Updated : 26 Sep 2026, 01:52 PM
Do you reach for Facebook, Instagram or TikTok almost as soon as you wake up?
That morning habit may be linked to your mental health, according to new research from Oregon State University.
A study published in the Journal of Prevention found that frequent social media use within 30 minutes of waking was associated with more than twice the odds of depression among US adults, even after researchers accounted for total social media use and other factors.
The research involved more than 1,500 adults and looked at both how much social media they used overall and how soon they started using it after waking.
Researchers found that the timing appeared to matter. When early-morning use and total social media use were analysed together, the association with depression remained significant for morning use.
But the findings do not show that scrolling soon after waking causes depression.
“There’s a strong link between using social media within the first 30 minutes after waking and depression,” lead researcher Hyosin “Dawn” Kim said in an Oregon State University report.
“But we don’t know whether using social media soon after waking contributes to depression, whether depression leads people to use social media when they wake up, or both.”
The researchers said the findings suggest that when people use social media may be as important as how much they use it, and that morning habits deserve closer study.
The work forms part of a broader Oregon State research programme examining the links between social media, social connection and mental health among adults.
