Protecting Youth Mental Health Through Social Media Policies: a Thematic Analysis of State-Level Guidance from Enacted Policies Across the United States

Since 2012, youth mental health challenges in the United States have worsened significantly alongside several socio-ecological changes. Yet, the rapid growth of social media has gained significant attention as a preeminent culprit for the rise in youth mental health challenges. Social media use is linked to both positive and negative mental health. While research has focused on interpersonal and intrapersonal mechanisms linking social media use to mental health, less is known about the broader policy-based approaches addressing this connection. This study used qualitative content analysis of U.S. policy texts to identify the legislative strategies aimed at addressing the connection between social media use and youth mental health. State-level policy texts were retrieved from congress.gov in November 2024. Policies were included if they explicitly addressed efforts to protect youth mental health. Qualitative content analysis and thematic coding were used to identify policy targets. We report on enacted policies ( n = 16). Three overarching themes emerged: Access (e.g., parental consent, age verification, internet and platform bans), Exposure (e.g., advertising, design practices, parental control), and Media Literacy (e.g., education-based initiatives). Findings highlight that U.S. policy efforts center on parental responsibility, platform accountability, and educational intervention to protect youth mental health. By mapping our findings to the Pluralistic Framework to Conceptualize Social Media Use in Children and Adolescents, this study situates policy within broader ecological systems, emphasizing the underlying policy targets driving legislation to improve growing concerns about how social media shapes youth mental health.