The fact that children use social media is not news. However, what social media does to adolescents is perhaps lesser-known to parents and those around them. Considering social media has not been around for too long, it is not absurd that the effects of social media on children and their development and health are rather foreign.
A common mentioned negative effect of social media usage by adolescents is mental health decline. Heavy usage is associated with hyperactivity, inattention, ODD, anxiety, depression symptoms (Barry et al., 2017). Besides this, the fear of missing out (FoMo) is also suffered by many adolescents, combined with feelings of loneliness. Heavy usage is even connected to deliberate self-harm and suicide in youths (Biernesser et al., 2020). Sleep disturbance and obesity are also connected to adolescent social media usage (Khajeheian et al., 2018). Moreover, research suggests that intense social media use is detrimental to the relationship between father and child, mothers and daughters, yet not between mothers and sons (Sampasa‐Kanyinga et al., 2020). Another risk for children on social media is grooming. In child grooming, an adult (predator) engages with a minor (victim) with the intent to meet in person (Cano et al., 2014). Social media usage by paedophiles is a greater societal concern (Cane et al., 2014). Tunick et al. (2011) also raise ethical concerns, such as psychologists being able to see their client’s online activities, which may cross professional lines as self-disclosure, informed consent and confidentiality are at risk.
On the other hand, social media can also be used to promote health. Informing about diets, exercise, sex, smoking, alcohol and parenting issues (Hamm et al., 2014). Nevertheless, the positive effects of healthy food information are nullified under the constant promotion of fast food by social media influencers (Khajeheian et al., 2018). Beyens et al. (2020) argue that the effects, whether they would be beneficial or detrimental to well-being, are heavily person-specific. Thus, research, prevention and intervention should consider person-specifics.
References:
Barry, C. T., Sidoti, C. L., Briggs, S. M., Reiter, S. R., & Lindsey, R. A. (2017). Adolescent social media use and mental health from adolescent and parent perspectives. Journal of Adolescence, 61, 1–11. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.adolescence.2017.08.005
Beyens, I., Pouwels, J. L., van Driel, I. I., Keijsers, L., & Valkenburg, P. M. (2020). The effect of social media on well-being differs from adolescent to adolescent. Scientific Reports, 10(1). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-67727-7
Biernesser, C., Sewall, C. J., Brent, D., Bear, T., Mair, C., & Trauth, J. (2020). Social media use and deliberate self-harm among youth: A systematized narrative review. Children and Youth Services Review, 116, 105054. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2020.105054
Cano, A. E., Fernandez, M., & Alani, H. (2014). Detecting Child Grooming Behaviour Patterns on Social Media. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, 412–427. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-13734-6_30
Hamm, M. P., Shulhan, J., Williams, G., Milne, A., Scott, S. D., & Hartling, L. (2014). A systematic review of the use and effectiveness of social media in child health. BMC Pediatrics, 14(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2431-14-138
Khajeheian, D., Colabi, A., Ahmad Kharman Shah, N., Bt Wan Mohamed Radzi, C., & Jenatabadi, H. (2018). Effect of Social Media on Child Obesity: Application of Structural Equation Modeling with the Taguchi Method. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 15(7), 1343. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph15071343
Sampasa‐Kanyinga, H., Goldfield, G. S., Kingsbury, M., Clayborne, Z., & Colman, I. (2020). Social media use and parent–child relationship: A cross‐sectional study of adolescents. Journal of Community Psychology, 48(3), 793–803. https://doi.org/10.1002/jcop.22293
Tunick, R. A., Mednick, L., & Conroy, C. (2011). A snapshot of child psychologists’ social media activity: Professional and ethical practice implications and recommendations. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 42(6), 440–447. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0025040
