Title: How does social media impact the mental health of young people?
Headings: How does social media impact the mental health of young people?
How does social media impact the mental health of young people?
Dr. Linda Papadopoulos | April 12th, 2017
The power of social media
What does research say about social media and mental health?
1. Impact on sleep
2. Use as life comparing tool
3. Chasing likes on post to drive self-worth / self-esteem
Talking to children about the pros & cons of social media
Resources

Content: The power of social media
Social media has dramatically changed the way we communicate, and there are a lot of benefits to it. We have access to unlimited information, we can connect with people from all over the world almost immediately and we can share with other things that matter to us. Social media is also a powerful tool in terms of motivating people to action and make social changes. It provides a platform for young people’s voices to be heard allowing them to have a say on issues that matter to them. The online world has the potential to help young people to explore new concepts, manage risks and build resilience. However, because social media has evolved so quickly and has a deep impact on the social fibre and interpersonal relationships it’s important to explore the potential effects on young peoples’ emotional and mental health. What does research say about social media and mental health? Over the past few years psychologists have begun to look at the effects of social media on mental wellbeing and a consistent finding of much of this research is that the heavy use of social media is associated with poorer mental health. A recent University of Pittsburgh study of young adults suggested that heavy social media users were three times more likely to be depressed than occasional users. A Canadian study from the Center of Addictions and Mental Health that’s examined data from over 10,000 adolescents, found that young people who use social media more than two hours per day were significantly more likely to rate their mental health as “fair” or “poor” compared with occasional users.