Key points are not available for this paper at this time.
Background: There is a paucity of research into whether social media use is inherently beneficial or harmful to adolescents’ mental health. Meanwhile, the United States (U.S.) is facing a mental health crisis among youth. The U.S. Surgeon General has called for more research on the potential harms of social media use to youth to inform policy. Aim: This is a narrative review of the literature into the impact of social media use on adolescent mental health, and a theoretical model is proposed. Methodology: Relevant clinical trials, survey data, and expert opinion were identified and reviewed. The review was narrowed to the focus of this paper. The data were evaluated and collated to provide a narrative summary. Results: The data suggest social media may be beneficial as well as harmful for adolescent mental health. Social media use is a complex behavior whose effects appear to depend on personal and environmental factors, and characteristics of the social media platform. Available research suggests associations but does not show causation. Research on interventions to prevent or treat harm associated with social media use remains embryonic. Conclusion: There are gaps in our knowledge of the relationship between social media use and adolescent mental health. Social media appears to pose risks of harm to adolescents but may also offer benefits. However, the data are heterogeneous and inconsistent, and insufficient to drive public health policy and treatment approaches. The “Augmented Vulnerability” model is proposed to explain the interactions between social media use and adolescent mental health.
Shah et al. (Fri,) studied this question.