SOCIAL NETWORKS AND MENTAL HEALTH IN CHILDHOOD AND ADOLESCENCE: A REVIEW OF THE STATE OF THE ART IN SPANISH AND ENGLISH SPEAKING COUNTRIES

Abstract

Social networks constitute an emerging socialization ecosystem on which new research questions and evidence of their impact on different aspects of social life and human psychology continue to be produced. These imply a challenge for society, for science and for the formulation of public policies aimed at regulating their uses and preventing their negative effects on psychosocial variables. Childhood and adolescence are two critical stages of the life cycle for socialization, personality construction and mental health, in which there is permanent exposure to social networks and their effects. It is therefore necessary to ask ourselves how these networks infl uence the mental health and development of children and adolescents. The present literature review aims to identify and analyze the research production in relation to the use of social networks by children and adolescents and their psychosocial and mental health consequences. The review covers the period of the last ten years and covers research production in Spanish-speaking and English-speaking countries. Five lines are identifi ed in which information on the infl uence of social networks on mental health can be organized: biological and behavioral consequences, association with psychopathological variables, association with other individual psychological variables, risk factors, protection factors, and opportunities in the use of social networks, and social networks and identity construction. The fi ndings allow to generate a public refl ection on the regulation and promotion of the uses of social networks for this population and the prevention of risk factors for their mental health