Mental health problems among teenagers have increased significantly over the past 20 years.
Sydney:
People often blame the increased use of social media and smartphones for the rise in mental health issues among teenagers, but it’s not that simple.
We are in the midst of a mental health crisis.
Two new studies show that Americans are more worried about their mental health than their physical health.
In the UK, research from King’s College London found that people of all ages believe young people are struggling with mental health, with parents blaming the coronavirus pandemic. In Australia, mental health services are in an “ongoing state of crisis”.
However, this trend has been present for some time, with rates of mental illness increasing significantly over the past two decades.
The surge in psychological distress (a general indicator of mental illness) in Australia is being driven by Millennials and Generation Z.
The latest Australian figures show that 40% of people aged 16 to 24 (Generation Z) have experienced a mental disorder in the past 12 months, up from 26% in 2007.
The rise in distress among young people is causing concern among parents, policymakers and researchers, with young people themselves ranking mental health as one of their top three personal concerns.
While there is no national data for teenagers, a tri-state survey of 6,639 Australians aged 11 to 14 found that 16 per cent suffered from moderate to severe anxiety and 17 per cent suffered from moderate to severe depression 14% of people suffer from moderate to severe depression. High levels of psychological distress.
The key question to answer is what might be behind it.
The advent of smartphones and social media is one of the biggest changes and challenges that young people have adapted to.
Surprisingly, there is no recent nationally representative data on teen smartphone ownership, but in the above study, 85% owned a smartphone by year 7 (2019) and by year 10 (2022) This proportion has increased to 93%.
As social media explodes, so does smartphone usage.
In 2013, 97% of Australian teenagers were already using social media (on any device). A 2017 study found that the average teen uses social media for more than three hours a day on at least four different social media platforms.
When looking at these two trends together, it seems we have found a solution to teen mental health issues: limit screen time.
Restrictions are happening, with the United Nations calling for a global ban on smartphone use in schools. Every state in Australia now bans the use of smartphones in the classroom.
In the US state of Florida, a new law bans children under 14 from using social media platforms and requires 14- and 15-year-olds to obtain parental consent. In the UK, parents are calling for age limits on smartphone ownership, while China is looking into curfews on access to mobile devices.
However, while reducing smartphone use in schools may reduce distractions from studying, the jury is still out on whether reducing screen time is the key to widespread improvements in adolescent mental health. The same goes for time spent on social media.
We cannot conclude that more time spent on social media equals worse mental health.
Teenagers’ social media behavior tends to vary widely, so limiting the survey to time spent – and thus simply reducing time spent – is a blunt approach.
There is growing evidence that the type and content of interactions young people experience on social media is likely to matter.
We know that online experiences can be both enriching and damaging.
In a recent study led by the Australian Electronic Safety Council, four in 10 teenagers had experienced at least one negative online interaction in the past six months, but nine in 10 had engaged in positive online behaviour.
We also know that sometimes social media will be the first and only place young people go to seek health advice and support, which can be enriching or potentially harmful, depending on the accuracy of the information.
What do young people think? Researchers from the University of Sydney asked a diverse group of young people on PREMISE and the Matilda Center Youth Advisory Council what they thought about the link between social media and escalating mental health problems.
Members mentioned that social media could increase their exposure to distressing news and highly polarizing social and political views by promoting unrealistic lifestyle and beauty standards, reducing their ability to tolerate boredom, or displacing other forms of Active leisure patterns, thus amplifying existing problems in adolescent mental health. .
However, they also highlighted that social media can foster connections, provide a means of livelihood and serve as a platform to engage in mental health education for young people.
Overall, they believe social media is neither the root cause nor the solution to escalating youth mental health issues.
Where does this leave us? Given that smartphones and social media are here to stay, we must take a harm-minimization approach and give teens the tools to use social media in a mentally healthy and safe way.
While Australia’s national guidelines recommend teenagers limit recreational screen time to two hours a day, we must move beyond focusing on the time spent.
This requires an approach that equips young people to critically evaluate online content, respond to cyberbullying, protect their body image, manage safety (including preventing strangers from contacting them, reporting harmful content and interactions), foster face-to-face connections, balance time spent on social media versus other health-promoting activities, and to identify and respond to the excessive intrusion of social media use into their lives.
There is also a clear place for balanced and reasonable parental supervision.
But young people, their families and schools should not bear all the blame.
Social media providers must do more to protect the well-being of younger users. This could be driven by government regulation and pressure, such as a push for Tinder to do more to address violence against women.
But hopefully soon we’ll see social media companies taking responsibility and working with experts to investigate and minimize the harm occurring on their platforms.
(Text: Originally published by 360info under Creative Commons)
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
