Social Media, Teens & Mental Health

Instagram, Tic Tok, Snapchat, Discord…you have probably heard about them. Chances are you or your teen already have one or all of these on your phone. Social media has become part of our culture and in many cases, the only inlet people have into a social life. For most families, it is also a source of many power struggles in the home.

What is Social Media?

The American Academy of Pediatrics define social media as, “any website that allows social interaction”. Examples of social media include working sites, gaming sites, virtual worlds and blogs. Yes, YouTube and news apps count.

Social Media Statistics

The use of social media is on the rise and has become a form of social currency in our culture, especially for teens. In fact, the Pew Research Center reports that in 2005, just 5% of American adults used at least one social media platform. By 2011, it was reported that half of all Americans, used social media in some way. Today it is reported that 72% of the public uses some type of social media. That means more people use social media than not. So what does this mean for mental health? Short answer: it isn’t great.

Common Sense Media reported that teenagers (ages 13-18) use an average of nine hours of social media/entertainment media per day and that tweens (ages 8-12) use an average of six hours a day, not including time spent using media for school or homework (Common Sense Media, 2022).

This statistic is disturbing on many levels but from the mental health perspective it begs the question, if kids are using social media for this many hours a day, what are they missing out on? What does this do to their brain?

We know that nothing can replace real life interaction. Humans are designed to interact and learn from the world around them and social media is not real life, nor does it expose teens to real life interaction. Through lived experiences, kids and teens learn how to interact, they learn social and cultural norms, how to make friends, healthy conflict resolution, how to play and engage in interpersonal skills. If their developing brains are missing out on these interactions and their developing bodies are missing out on movement, it would seem like their overall mental and physical health would rapidly decline. Unfortunately, that is exactly what we are seeing.

Buda et al (2020) found that social media use in school aged children was associated with two times higher odds for worse sleep quality and lower life satisfaction. Buda et al., (2020)  also found that social media use in school aged children was related to a significant reduction of vigorous physical activity in girls. This study found that school aged girls who used social media tended to have more negative health perceptions of themselves and others. The results suggest that problematic social media use is a significant risk factor for negative health behaviors of all types.

This makes sense to me as a mental health professional and holistic health practitioner on many levels. Kids used to go play outside, play in the dirt, explore their environments, make neighborhood friends, climb trees, etc. Now kids are sitting at home, without sunlight, not moving their bodies, escaping reality by staring at their screens. We know that the fundamentals of health include social interaction, adequate sunlight, quality nutrition and movement. It seems that extensive social media use directly conflicts with the fundamentals of health.

 But what about learning through lived experiences? Unfortunately, for a lot of teens, social media is their primary source of connection with the outside world and it is creating a very skewed version of reality. From a social perspective, it is far easier to spout off negative things on social media because you can hide behind a keyboard. In real life, if a teen were to spout off to a boss or co-worker or bully a friend in school, there would be real life repercussions and/or consequences. But in social media land, the safeguards, the checks, and balances that are provided by real life interactions, are missing. As someone who works in mental health, this is concerning to me. I see the negative mental, spiritual, and physical side effects of social media use in my clinic every day.

Draws to Social Media

We know that teens are drawn to social media for a variety of reasons. Some reasons may include entertainment, a platform for self-expression, social platforms may give a glimpse into topics that may not be discussed in a person’s home, connection, social currency or a way to stay “relevant” and it is the perfect way to quickly escape the reality of life.

Drawbacks to Social Media

 Social media has significant drawbacks. Research suggests that social media usage is linked to poor mental health and significantly decreased well-being in teens (Dyson et al., 2016). Social media also exposes teens to blue light which can disrupt circadian rhythm and sleep (2015; Pirdehghan et al., 2021). A 2016 study, conducted by Council on Communications and Media which included more than 450 teens, found that increased social media use- including nighttime social media use and emotional investment in social media — such as feeling upset when prevented from logging on — were each linked to decreased sleep quality and increased levels of anxiety and depression (Council On Communications and Media, 2016). These results are in alignment with what research has been suggesting for some time now.

Social Media also exposes teens to safety concerns. niDirect Government Services (2022) reported that social media use can expose teens to cyberbullying, invasion of privacy, identity theft, offensive images and messages, and strangers who may be there to ‘groom’ teens. Additionally, social media has become exceedingly difficult to monitor and set safeguards.

So What Now?

 Social media is a great example of how our world has out evolved our primal brains. Humans were designed to be outside, be in community and learn through lived experiences. We were not designed to sit in front of a screen. Additionally, teenager’s brains are not designed to process information at the rate in which is required by social media. The prefrontal cortex (the part of the brain that allows for discernment, logic and reason) is nowhere near developed in teens either. All of these things combined suggest that social media use may not be the best things for teens mental health.

 Safe Guards

1.     Utilize a social media contract and follow through on setting boundaries around social media use.

2.     Establish healthy routines around social media use. For example: charge devices in a family area, away from bedrooms and practice open dialogue surrounding social media use.

3.     Teach teens consent and laws surrounding social media.

4.     Install parental safeguards when possible and share with your teen the types of monitoring that will take place.

As always, it is vital that you and your family decide what works for you. There is no easy way to go about social media use or parenting in general. We are here to support you in your parenting journey and we are also here to support your teen as they learn to navigate life!

I received many questions that I would like to answer more in depth in a future post. These questions include:

 Does social media affect girls and boys differently?

Is there a safe amount of time to spend on social media?

Is there a way to track my teens social media use?

Stay tuned for more posts on this topic!

In Wellness,

Dr. Elizabeth Miller

References

Chang, A.-M., Aeschbach, D., Duffy, J. F., & Czeisler, C. A. (2015). Evening use of light-emitting eReaders negatively affects sleep, circadian timing, and next-morning alertness. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 112(4), 1232–1237. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1418490112

Common Sense Media. (2022). Common Sense Media. https://www.commonsensemedia.org/press-releases/landmark-report-us-teens-use-an-average-of-nine-hours-of-media-per-day-tweens-use-six-hours

Council On Communications and Media. (2016). Media Use in School-Aged Children and Adolescents. Pediatrics, 138(5), e20162592. https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2016-2592

Dyson, M. P., Hartling, L., Shulhan, J., Chisholm, A., Milne, A., Sundar, P., Scott, S. D., & Newton, A. S. (2016). A Systematic Review of Social Media Use to Discuss and View Deliberate Self-Harm Acts. PLOS ONE, 11(5), e0155813. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0155813

niDirect Government Services. (2022). Social media, online gaming and keeping children safe online [Government]. NiDirect Government Services. https://www.nidirect.gov.uk/articles/social-media-online-gaming-and-keeping-children-safe-online

Pirdehghan, A., Khezmeh, E., & Panahi, S. (2021). Social Media Use and Sleep Disturbance among Adolescents: A Cross-Sectional Study. Iranian Journal of Psychiatry. https://doi.org/10.18502/ijps.v16i2.5814