56.3 “Would You Say My Child Is Addicted?”: Lending Principles of Addiction Treatment to Families and Adolescents Worried About Social Media

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Social media use is nearly ubiquitous among adolescents and is increasingly a primary means of communication and information exchange among peers. Without current consensus, whether social media use can become an addiction has been debated and is at times warmly contested. A lack of clarity around terminology and criteria can leave providers uneasy about how to assess and address problematic or compulsive social media use. By the end of this presentation, attendees will: 1) understand current diagnostic categories (or lack thereof) around problematic internet and social media use; 2) increase comfort in screening for problematic social media use; 3) appreciate opportunities to utilize generalizable, core substance use and addiction treatment strategies for adolescents impacted by problematic social media use; and 4) recognize tools for guiding parents who feel that their children have problematic social media use.