A Consensus Statement on Potential Negative Impacts of Smartphone and Social Media Use on Adolescent Mental Health

Valerio Capraro, Laura Globig, Zachary Rausch, Steve Rathje, Alexandra Wormley, Jay Olson, Robert Ross, Sinan Anon, Ayoub Bouguettaya, Kaitlyn Burnell, Sophia Choukas-Bradley, Jasmine Fardouly, Rachel Kowert, Richard Lopez, Anne Maheux, Dan-Mircea Mirea, Phillip Ozimek, Dylan Selterman, Tara Thiagarajan, Laura Vandenbosch, Sammy Wals, Elia Abi-Jaoude, Perry Adler, Kara Alaimo, Jon-Patrick Allem, Vahid Ashrafi, Susanne Baumgartner, Patrick Bender, Gaia Bernstein, Syon Bhanot, Emily Bilek, Michel Boivin, Luca Braghieri, Julia Brailovskaia, Justin Brienza, Cameron Bunker, Romain Cadario, Celeste Campos-Castillo, Jason Chein, Lynn Clark, Jason Colditz, Mark Coulson, Amelia Couture Bue, Sarah Coyne, Thomas Curran, Serena Daalmans, Diag Davenport, Meredith David, Chris Davis, Katie Davis, Munmun de Choudhury, Tim Derksen, Linda Dezső, Sarah Domoff, Morgan Ellithorpe, Elizabeth Englander, Samira Farivar, Daniel Fernandez-Kranz, Jacob Fisher, Joy Gabrielli, Douglas Gentile, Matthew Gentzkow, Osea Giuntella, Biljana Gjoneska, Melanie Green, Lauren Hale, John Haltigan, Jessica Hamilton, Tilo Hartmann, Benjamin Hilbig, Stephen Hinshaw, Jillian Hmurovic, Beth Hoffman, Matthew Hornsey, Melissa Hunt, Sophie Janicke-Bowles, El-Lim Kim, Daria Kuss, David Lee, Ro'Ee Levy, Nason Maani, Alexey Makarin, Tamar Mendelson, Minas Michikyan, Diana Miconi, Luca Milani, Kathryn Modecki, Andras Molnar, Jessica Navarro, Stefano Pagliarani, Vincent Paquin, Douglas Parry, Nicholas Pavic, Sarah Pila, Marc Potenza, Thomas Potrebny, Brian Primack, Phil Reed, Yefim Roth, Pamela Rutledge, Fabio Sabatini, Dasha Sandra, Daniel Sazhin, Ariel Shensa, L. Shrum, Ze'Ev Shtudiner, Elida Sina, Michael Sobolev, Eszter Somogyi, Lena Song, Helen Thai, Johannes Thrul, Marika Tiggemann, Roberto Truzoli, Tyler Vanderweele, Samuel Veissiere, Carol Vidal, Marek Vranka, Joshua Watson, Elisa Wegmann, Paul Weigle, Whitney Whitted, Simon Wilksch, Mark Williams, Ning Zhang, Laura Zimmermann, Ethan Kross, Jonathan Haidt and Jay Van Bavel
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L. Shrum: HEC Paris - Ecole des Hautes Etudes Commerciales
Authors registered in the RePEc Author Service: Daniel Fernandez Kranz

Working Papers from HAL

Abstract: The impact of smartphones and social media use on adolescent mental health remains widely debated. To clarify expert opinion, we convened over 120 international researchers from 11 disciplines, representing a broad range of views. Using a Delphi method, the panel evaluated 26 claims covering international trends in adolescent mental health, causal links to smartphones and social media, and policy recommendations. The experts suggested 1,400 references and produced a consensus statement for each claim. The following conclusions were rated as accurate or somewhat accurate by 92–97% of respondents: First, adolescent mental health has declined in several Western countries over the past 20 years. Second, heavy smartphone and social media use can cause sleep problems. Third, smartphone and social media use correlate with attention problems and behavioural addiction. Fourth, among girls, social media use may be associated with body dissatisfaction, perfectionism, exposure to mental disorders, and risk of sexual harassment and predation. Fifth, evidence on social deprivation and relational aggression is limited. Sixth, the evidence for policies like age restrictions and school bans is preliminary. Overall, the results of this deliberative process and the set of concrete recommendations provided can help guide future research and evidence-informed policy on adolescent technology use.

Keywords: social media; mental health; adolescence; consensus statement; sleep; addiction; attention; sociality; development; cyberbulling; harassment; social contagion; body image; policymaking; interventions (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025-05-17
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hal:wpaper:hal-05380228

DOI: 10.2139/ssrn.5256747

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