- Posted
- May 26, 2023
Surgeon General advisory links social media to poor mental health outcomes for teens
Social media can profoundly harm the mental health of youth, particularly adolescent girls, the U.S. Surgeon General warned in an advisory on Tuesday (Source: “Social media could harm youth mental health, U.S. Surgeon General warns,” Reuters, May 23).
In a 25-page advisory, U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy called for safeguards from tech companies for children who are at critical stages of brain development. The report said that while social media offers some benefits, there are "ample indicators that social media could also harm children's well-being."
"We are in the middle of a national youth mental health crisis, and I am concerned that social media is an important driver of that crisis - one that we must urgently address," Murthy said.
Social media use may cause and perpetuate body image issues, affect eating behaviors and sleep quality, and lead to social comparison and low self-esteem, especially among adolescent girls, the advisory said, citing responses from a survey conducted among adolescents.
Adolescents who spend more than three hours per day on social media face double the risk of experiencing poor mental health outcomes, such as symptoms of depression and anxiety, according to the advisory.