The U.S. Surgeon General has issued an advisory on the effect of social media on the country's youth that suggests its benefits are offset by its risks to mental health.
Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy released "Social Media and Youth Mental Health 2023" on May 23, the Department of Health and Human Services (DHS) announced at the time. The report finds that although there are some benefits to social media, "there are ample indicators that social media can also pose a risk of harm to the mental health and well-being of children and adolescents."
"Social media use by young people is nearly universal," the news release reports, "with up to 95% of young people ages 13-17 reporting using a social media platform and more than a third saying they use social media 'almost constantly'.”
Brain development is at a critical juncture during late childhood and adolescence, the release states, and the use of social media becomes harmful depending on how much time children spend with it; the types of content they see; and how much social media use disrupts healthy activities such as sleep, the news release reports.
Among benefits reported by adolescents is being made to feel accepted (59%), as if they have people who can offer support during "tough times," (67%), like they have a place to show their creative side (71%), and more connected to what’s going on in their friends’ lives (80%), the release reports.
Murthy said the most common question he is asked by parents is "is social media safe for my kids?"
"The answer is that we don't have enough evidence to say it's safe, and in fact, there is growing evidence that social media use is associated with harm to young people’s mental health," Murthy said in the news release.
"Children are exposed to harmful content on social media, ranging from violent and sexual content to bullying and harassment," he said. "And for too many children, social media use is compromising their sleep and valuable in-person time with family and friends."
Research has found that excessive social media use can be harmful to some children; youth who spend more than three hours per day on social media are at double the risk of experiencing poor mental health, including depression and anxiety, body dissatisfaction, eating disorders, negative comparison and low-self-esteem, "especially among adolescent girls," the release reports. According to a 2021 survey, teenagers spend on average 3.5 hours per day on social media.
"While more research is needed to determine the full impact social media use has on nearly every teenager across the country," the release states, "children and adolescents don’t have the luxury of waiting years until we know the full extent of social media’s effects."
The Surgeon General appealed to "policymakers, technology companies, researchers, families, and young people alike" to work together to better understand the impact of social media use on adolescents and youth, in order to "maximize the benefits and minimize the harms of social media platforms, and create safer, healthier online environments to protect children," the release states.
"We are in the middle of a national youth mental health crisis," Murthy said in the release, "and I am concerned that social media is an important driver of that crisis – one that we must urgently address.”
