More Than Half of Young Canadian Men Spending Over 3 Hours on Social Media Linked to Mental Health Issues

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Oct. 07, 2026 /CourierPR/ -- A new study has revealed that more than half of young Canadian men aged 19-44 spend over three hours a day on social media, significantly impacting their mental health. The findings, from a national survey of 2,000 Canadian men conducted between April 8 and 14, 2026, by the Canadian Men’s Health Foundation and Intensions Consulting, highlight the concerning trend.

The survey, which was stratified to reflect the demographic distribution of the 2021 Census, found that 53% of the surveyed men reported using social media for more than three hours daily. This high usage is linked to a range of mental health issues, with the risk of experiencing moderate to high anxiety more than doubling. Specifically, 54% of those who spent over three hours on social media reported moderate to high anxiety, compared to 23% of those who spent less time.

Moreover, the study showed that the risk of moderate to severe depression nearly tripled among men who spent more than three hours on social media, with 39% of this group reporting symptoms, compared to 14% of those who spent less time. The risk of problem anger also increased significantly, with 38% of the high social media users experiencing problem anger, compared to 12% of the low users.

Perhaps most concerning, the risk of suicidal ideation was tripled among men who spent more than three hours a day on social media, with 30% of this group reporting such thoughts, compared to 10% of those who spent less time on the platforms.

The study used validated measures, including time spent on social media (Riehm, et. al. 2019), the Overall Anxiety Severity and Impairment Scale (OASIS), the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9), Dimensions of Anger Reactions (DAR-5), and the Suicide Behaviours Questionnaire-Revised (SBQ-R). The results are considered accurate to within plus or minus 2.2 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.