Decrease of well-being and increase of online media use: Cohort trends in German university freshmen between 2016 and 2019.

Research from the U.S. described a decrease of subjective well-being and an increase of online media use in young adults today. The present study investigated whether similar trends occur in Germany. Data of overall 1985 university freshmen (four cohorts: 2016: N=658, 2017: N=333, 2018: N=562, 2019: N=432) were collected by online surveys in the years 2016 to 2019. The comparison of the four cohorts revealed a significant increase of depression, anxiety and stress symptoms, as well as of the use of social platforms from 2016 to 2019. In contrast, positive mental health (PMH) significantly decreased over the years. No significant changes of the gaming behavior were found. A slight significant positive relationship occurred between the negative variables of well-being and online media use. The association between PMH and online media use was significantly negative. Thus, cohort trends found in the U.S. can at least rudimentarily be replicated in Germany. Young adults in 2019 seem to have lower levels of well-being and to engage in more use of social platforms than older cohorts.