Social media has revolutionized how we communicate, share information and build relationships. Some sociologists and psychologists argue that this transformation has led to numerous positive changes. Still, many other experts have raised significant concerns, particularly regarding social media’s impact on the mental health of teenagers. And there are even a few experts who downplay these concerns.
Consequently, some parents, disheartened, frustrated and confused by the divergent expert opinions, feel they must navigate this matter according to their own wits and hope for the best. “Let the academics argue over their statistics and studies,” they may think.
The truth is parents don’t have to ignore what the experts are saying just because not all of them agree. The connection between social media and teens’ mental health is complex, and most researchers don’t assume that their scientific inquiry will lead to a silver bullet. In short, they don’t need to be convinced “beyond a shadow of a doubt” that social media harms teens (especially girls); they look at what the evidence leans toward. Often, that is enough to raise an alarm.
Before getting to the alarm, however, let’s see what is said in defense of social media.
By far, the most widely cited good of social media is its connectedness. As social creatures, all humans rely to some extent on peer relationships for their emotional and psychological well-being, but teenagers rely on this support a great deal.
According to a report by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), social media platforms such as Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat and Facebook offer teens the opportunity to join groups or communities that focus on shared experiences.
Jessica Freeman, assistant professor of communication at Augusta University, confirmed this anecdotally: “I have a friend whose child, a neurodivergent teenager, met many people she’d call friends, online. She had trouble socializing otherwise and made some of her strongest connections online versus in-person interactions.” These online spaces can provide a sense of belonging and validation, which is particularly beneficial for those who might otherwise feel isolated or marginalized in their offline lives.
Less widely cited as another positive effect of social media on teen mental health is the easy access to resources about mental health. The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), for example, says that teens can learn about self-care strategies, mental wellness and coping techniques by “following” mental health advocates, psychologists and therapists on social media platforms. These are vital resources for teens in crisis, NIMH says.
What the institute doesn’t say, however, is just how many teens do, in fact, follow these experts or use the mental health resources accessible via social media. It’s one thing to say teens can access, can learn, and can seek help; it is quite another to say they do.
Such organizations mean well in touting access to helpful resources, but the sharp rise (especially from 2010-15) in the mental unhealth of teens rather weakens the acclaim.
Extensive research has shown that excessive use of social media contributes to anxiety, depression and low self-esteem. Then why exactly do the experts disagree? Essentially, a handful of them — call them the doubters — are reluctant to say that overuse of social media causes teens’ depression and anxiety; other phenomena, they say, might explain the rise in teen mental unhealth (e.g., unstable housing, lack of school connectedness, child abuse, sexual violence, rising concerns about racism, xenophobia, the climate and political polarization).
If you read enough of the back-and-forth between the doubters and the alarm-raisers, and you will see that it is basically a dispute about “necessary” and “sufficient” causes. Yet, parents in the trenches are mostly concerned about what they can do to protect their children’s minds and hearts from the worst of social media.
But what is “the worst?”
I suppose that depends on what you most care about, or what offense seems most hellish: it’s difficult to say (scientifically) whether the pressure to conform to unrealistic standards of physical beauty is less or more damaging than cyberbullying, or sleep disruption, or social isolation, or eating disorders, or low self-esteem, or academic disengagement.
Research consistently shows a correlation between these effects on teens’ mental health and their overuse of social media. With much of the reporting being self-assessed by teens, there can exist a reason for doubting the root data.
One psychiatrist, for example, writing in The New York Times, argued that what was really on the rise was a moral panic around teens and their smartphones. Are teens really getting worse mentally, or are parents merely reacting worse?
The best alarm-raisers, however, do not look only at self-reported data. They look at changes in measures not reported by teens themselves, such as the number of teens brought in for emergency psychiatric care, or admitted to hospitals each year because they deliberately harmed themselves. They also cross-compare the U.S. data to that from other countries like the U.K, Canada, New Zealand and Australia as well as Latin America, Scandinavia and Asia.
The results of this comparison are staggering: the increase in rates of depression, anxiety and suicide is seen not only across the world but also roughly at the same time. Other factors do contribute, of course, to poor teen mental health, but its unprecedented rise between 2010 and 2015 cannot be adequately explained by the global financial crisis or any other set of events.
Then what can adequately explain the rise?
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