Screens, Social Media And Mental Health: What Research Shows

The following is adapted from Techno Sapiens, a website where you can find a newsletter published by Jacqueline Nesi, a psychologist and professor at Brown University. In the latest edition, she describes research on social media and mental health and the results being shared with the public.

Jacqueline studies how technology and social media impact youth and provides insights for parents on how to help their kids navigate them. She is a parent and started Techno Sapiens three years ago to share the latest research on these technologies and their impacts on parenting.

Enjoy the read.

This past week, I attended two excellent conferences: a convening on Social Media and Children’s Mental Health organized by the Hassenfeld Institute at Brown University, and the annual convention of the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies. I saw presentations detailing statistical models, shared my research, and participated in lengthy discussions using words like mechanisms and ideographic approaches.

Now, I know what you’re thinking: Why do academics get to have all the fun?

Well, not to worry! I’ve rounded up some key insights from my time in the strange, fluorescent-lit and over-caffeinated world of academic conferences. I’m excited to share my top five takeaways from the conversation on social media, screens, and mental health.

Takeaway #1: Parents need support, not fear or guilt

No surprise to any of you: social media and youth mental health are major topics of public conversation right now. This is great! We need to talk about these things and discuss the best ways to help kids use technology effectively.

What’s not great is the fear, guilt, and shame many parents feel about this. These emotions are not helping anyone, parents or kids alike. What parents do need is support, including accurate information on the risks and benefits of technology and realistic guidance on what to do.

Takeaway #2: Let’s look outside the screens

A useful term that to add to your vocabulary is third places. For kids, this is anywhere that is not home or school (for adults, it’s anywhere that’s not home or work). In short: kids need non-digital third places. They need community centers, parks, public libraries, malls, coffee shops, bowling alleys, and gyms, anywhere they can gather safely and without too much adult intervention.

We often lament kids filling their free time with screens, but here’s the thing: we need to be providing them with alternatives. Many third places have been closing or banning teens in recent years. So, for all our focus on cutting down screen time, let’s also think about what kids can do instead.

Takeaway #3: Let’s teach kids to use technology better

A number of research reports and health advisories have come out in recent years related to issues of technology and mental health. What is one thing nearly all have in common? Recommending media literacy training for kids (i.e., teaching kids to use technology in healthier, safer ways).

This can take many forms but generally involves teaching kids how to build healthy online relationships, establish good technology habits, and spot misinformation. Many schools are already implementing this type of training, but there’s still a lot of work to be done with kids and adults as well.

Takeaway #4: The legislative landscape is quickly evolving

When it comes to kids and social media, the past year has seen in the United States legislative movements at both the state and federal levels. There is academic debate about how closely legislative proposals are following the science, and how the research can guide policy.

Most notable at the federal level: the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) and Children’s Online Privacy Protection Action (COPPA 2.0) passed 91-3 in the U.S. Senate earlier this year, but have yet to be voted on in the House.

At the state level, the National Conference of State Legislatures says at least 30 states have pending legislation this year. Bills focus on at least five areas:

• Establishing age-appropriate design codes and new privacy rules for minors.
• Requiring age verification or parental consent to open social media accounts.
• Creating new protections for minors who are content creators.
• Limiting social media and smartphones in schools.
• Adding media literacy courses to the school curriculum.

Takeaway #5: Communicating science to the public is hard

There is a lot of discussion happening across academic fields about how best to communicate scientific findings. This is certainly true when it comes to social media and mental health.

The research on this is complicated. There are lots of mixed findings, non-findings, and findings with small effects. Lots of studies conclude that social media effects depend on who is using it, when they’re using it, and what they’re doing with it. And yet there are many things we know about the risks of social media and strategies for parents to use for their kids as well as themselves.

So what’s a good scientist to do? Gloss over the many complexities to offer a clear, but dumbed-down, message or forge deep into the weeds, communicating a tangled web of conflicting findings, and hope people can detangle these themselves? The answer is likely somewhere in the middle, but finding that middle ground is tricky.