If liberal teens spent less time socializing in person and more time on social media than conservative teens, that might explain why their mental health suffered more. That appears to be the case. In 2018–2021, more liberal teen girls were heavy social media users than conservative teen girls. Liberal teen boys were also more likely to be heavy social media users than conservative teen boys (see Figure 6.69). In addition, the decline in face-to-face social interaction—for example, in going out with friends—was larger among liberals than among conservatives (for example, among girls; see Figure
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