U.S. Surgeon General's Advisory: Social Media and Youth Mental Health
canopic jug writes:
The US Surgeon General has published his 2023 advisory on social control media and youth mental health [warning for PDF]. The report's scope is only on the health and mental health effects, not the weaponized nature of the phenomenon. The body of the report is 17 pages long and includes a call to action.
Extreme, inappropriate, and harmful content continues to be easily and widelyaccessible by children and adolescents. This can be spread through directpushes, unwanted content exchanges, and algorithmic designs. In certain tragiccases, childhood deaths have been linked to suicide- and self-harm-relatedcontent and risk-taking challenges on social media platforms. Thiscontent may be especially risky for children and adolescents who are alreadyexperiencing mental health difficulties. Despite social media providing a senseof community for some, a systematic review of more than two dozen studiesfound that some social media platforms show live depictions of self-harm actslike partial asphyxiation, leading to seizures, and cutting, leading to significantbleeding. Further, these studies found that discussing or showing this contentcan normalize such behaviors, including through the formation of suicide pactsand posting of self-harm models for others to follow.
Social media may also perpetuate body dissatisfaction, disordered eatingbehaviors, social comparison, and low self-esteem, especially among adolescentgirls. A synthesis of 20 studies demonstrated a significant relationshipbetween social media use and body image concerns and eating disorders, withsocial comparison as a potential contributing factor. Social comparison drivenby social media is associated with body dissatisfaction, disordered eating, anddepressive symptoms. When asked about the impact of social media ontheir body image, nearly half (46%) of adolescents aged 13-17 said social mediamakes them feel worse, 40% said it makes them feel neither better nor worse,and only 14% said it makes them feel better.
Previously:
(2023) Seattle's Schools are Suing Tech Giants for Harming Young People's Mental Health
(2022) Leaked Documents Reveal Instagram Was Pushing Girls Towards Content That Harmed Mental Health
(2022) Social Media Break Improves Mental Health
(2021) Facebook Documents Show How Toxic Instagram is for Teens, Wall Street Journal Reports
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