Adolescent Social Media Use and Mental Health

Abstract

A number of factors have impaired researchers’ ability to evidence how, when, and under which conditions social media relates to adolescents’ mental health. For example, the rapid growth and changes in the social media landscape make measuring social media use difficult, and individuals use social media platforms and features of platforms in unique patterns. Notwithstanding these challenges, a great deal of progress has been made in uncovering key empirical insights that have contributed to theory building in how social media effects among youth are understood. In this chapter, we review extant research on social media effects and adolescent mental health, focusing specifically on adolescent development and mental disorders, in line with the Personal Social Media Ecosystem Framework (PSMEF), which articulates that users experience unique digital settings and use social media elements that can transcend social media environments. Thus, in addition to covering how the PSMEF defines social media as a context for interaction, we also review how existing research maps onto this framework in ways that can inform on later iterations of social media itself. We end by offering directions for future research that will help to delineate the ways through which social media affects adolescents’ mental health.