The View From DC: Social Media and Youth Mental Health

(Part Three of the Discussion Paper – The View From DC in November 2023)

Most experts agree on the (lack of a) link between social media and declining mental health

A potential link between the rise in the use of information technology and mental health challenges for young people has been a hot topic recently – and especially since the US Surgeon General released this paper. From media reporting, it can seem like online safety experts are split down the middle on this – but actually there is mostly consensus amongst those practitioners that have invested time unpacking this specific issue. That consensus is that social media is not responsible for a rise in mental health challenges for young people.

Its easy to see a ‘common sense’ connection between the rise of social media, the challenges that exist on social media and the rise in mental health issues. But research does not support a causal link. It has found that although young people have to deal with bullying and challenges of socialising and fitting in online – these challenges are no more impactful or substantive than they were/are in offline environments.

The research supports a new focus for regulation

Much of the regulation being written today seeks to build walls around young people online and transfer responsibility to their parents. This has the effect of stripping young people of their agency – and therefore may be inadvertently contributing to adverse mental health outcomes.

The research has shown that (a) Young people are mostly resilient if helped early and effectively, and (b) that they do want access to help and tools when faced with a crisis. In summary, when young people are given agency and feel empowered – they report better mental health outcomes.

This means that lawmakers that want to address the mental health crisis (and protect young people more generally) should regulate tech platforms to provide tools that empower young people to resolve issues.

Note: This mistaken focus on control has been the subject of multiple articles by our Director Anne Collier and the book “Young People in Digital Society – Ctrl Shift” co-authored by our Director Amanda Third.

What about the brain science?

Neuroscientists at the University of North Carolina found that habitually checking social media as a young teenager may potentially lead to permanent changes in the brain’s reward and motivation centres and lead to hypersensitivity.

To be clear, this isn’t about the content on social media. It is about the effect that scrolling for long periods whilst constantly anticipating social rewards and punishment has on a developing brain. Just as the idea of screentime is finally being put to bed, a new issue of ‘scroll time’ may be emerging.  

There is still a lot more we don’t know about the potential dangers of scroll time- but this is clearly an area to watch closely and to encourage more research investment in.

A logical step would seem to be to create tools that interrupt long scrolling sessions (at least for young people) – but there may be other ways to interrupt that brain response feedback which is a question to be answered by actual brain scientists. The research raises other interesting questions about young people and technology more generally. If the constant scrolling on social media impacts brain development – does that also apply to games and other online activities that generate regular small rewards and punishments?  

I also wonder if the same phenomenon can also be applied to adults. Whilst the adult brain is not developing in the same way, we do know that it continues to change and adapt. Perhaps we’ll all need to limit our continuous scroll time?

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