Social Media and Mental Health among Teenagers
By Dr Jared T. Stokes
This post originally featured on the SAGE Journals Blog
Social media use is ever-increasing with no signs of decreasing, given the importance of technology in today’s society. Specifically, social media is defined as “an electronic method of [. . .] social interaction where users can both create and consume content.” Adolescents are the principal users of social media. Most adolescents use some form of social media, with 97% or more regularly engaging in online communication. Additionally, social media is an important element of adolescent development. Adolescents are constantly interacting with each other and showcasing their developing identities online. Such interactions reflect notable psychologist Erik Erikson's stages of psychosocial development in which the adolescent forms his or her sense of self.
However, much of today’s public discussion about social media’s impact on youth implies that mere exposure can result in a mental health disturbance. Mental health problems stemming from social media use can include both internalizing behaviors (eg, depression, anxiety, or low self-esteem) and externalizing behaviors (eg, hyperactivity). Social media use among adolescents can lead to such problems as Internet addiction, cyberbullying — inflicting willful and constant harm to others through electronic means, or a fear of missing out — a pervasive apprehension that one is missing out on desirable experiences others are having. Emerging evidence supports the idea that social media use does not necessarily cause poor mental health outcomes; however, adolescence can be a developmental stage in which youth are particularly susceptible to social media’s negative effects because they are in an early stage of identity formation.
Youth mental health is an important public health concern because many mental disorders are first detected during this life stage. Therefore, causes of poor mental health outcomes among adolescents need to be addressed. Regarding social media, the transition from normal to problematic use occurs when social media becomes an important or even exclusive method of relieving stress, loneliness, or depression. That means that the quality of use can influence an adolescent’s mental health more than quantity of use. Still, this form of communication has proven highly beneficial for many adolescents because social media can help give adolescents a way to connect or reconnect with others. Such connections expand and strengthen offline networks and interactions. Moreover, these connections can lead to better self-esteem and well-being by creating a virtual supportive community, which persons who feel marginalized especially need.
With social media’s complexities, one way to address adolescent use and its potential for negative mental health outcomes is to develop programs that teach techniques for successfully navigating its use. We should also consider the possible cultural, social, or personal factors that can cause certain adolescents to experience negative mental health outcomes caused by social media use.
Additional Reading
Barry CT, Sidoti CL, Briggs SM, Reiter SR, Lindsey RA. Adolescent social media use and mental health from adolescent and parent perspectives. Journal of Adolescence 2017; 61:1-11.
Bekalu MA, McCloud RF, Viswanath K. Association of social media use with social well-being, positive mental health, and self-rated health: disentangling routine use from emotional connection to use. Health Education and Behavior 2019; 46(2 Suppl):S69-S80.
Berryman C, Ferguson CJ, Negy C. Social media use and mental health among young adults. Psychiatric Quarterly 2018; 89(2):307-314.
Cain J. It’s time to confront student mental health issues associated with smartphones and social media. American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education 2018; 82(7):6862.
de Calheiros Velozo J, Stauder JE. Exploring social media use as a composite construct to understand its relation to mental health: a pilot study on adolescents. Children and Youth Services Review 2018; 91:398-402.
DeSmet A. Social media and lifestyles in youth mental health promotion. Lancet Child and Adolescent Health 2019; 3(10):664-665.
Guinta MR, John RM. Social media and adolescent health. Pediatric Nursing 2018; 44(4):196-201.
Knight ZG. A proposed model of psychodynamic psychotherapy linked to Erik Erikson's eight stages of psychosocial development. Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy 2017; 24(5):1047-1058.
O’Reilly M, Dogra N, Whiteman N, Hughes J, Eruyar S, Reilly P. Is social media bad for mental health and wellbeing? Exploring the perspectives of adolescents. Clinical Child Psychology and Psychiatry 2017; 23(4):601-613.
Xu H, Tan BC. Why do I keep checking Facebook: effects of message characteristics on the formation of social network services addiction. Paper presented at the Thirty Third International Conference on Information Systems, Orlando, Florida, 2012.
About
Jared T. Stokes, EdD, MA, MPH, CHES is a public health professional, specializing in health education. Having invested himself in health affairs for over a decade, Dr. Stokes understands the importance of health literacy and actively works to synthesize complex scientific information into language understood by the lay public.