THE IMPACT OF SOCIAL MEDIA ON ADOLESCENTS' MENTAL HEALTH: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW
Authors/Creators
- 1. P & A Kyriakou Children's Hospital, Agency for quality assurance in health
-
2.
University of West Attica
Description
Introduction: The increasing use of social media by adolescents is a major concern, as excessive use of social media may affect adolescents' mental health.
Aim: The investigation of the impact of social media on adolescents’ mental health.
Methodology: We searched the electronic data bases of PubMed and Scopus using the following keywords: adolescents, social media, social network, mental health. Our review included articles in English until February 2024.
Results: Applying our inclusion and exclusion criteria we found nine studies. We found four studies in Asia, two studies in Europe, one study in the USA, one study in Canada, and one study in Australia. Six studies examined the impact of social media in general, while three studies examined the impact only of Facebook. All studies found that increased use of social media is associated with increased mental health issues such as depression and anxiety.
Conclusions: We found a relationship between social media and adolescents’ mental health. Thus, the appropriate measures should be implemented for improving social media use among adolescents.