A collective review on some potential negative impacts of smartphone and social media use on adolescent mental health: Results from a Delphi process
Year: 2025
Type: preprint
Abstract: The literature on how smartphone and social media use affects adolescent mental health is highly fragmented. To synthesize the evidence, we convened over 120 researchers with diverse perspectives to evaluate 26 commonly cited claims using a Delphi process. A large majority agree that: Adolescent mental health has declined in several Western countries; heavy smartphone and social media use can cause sleep problems; such use correlates with attention problems and behavioural addiction; among girls, social media use may be associated with body dissatisfaction, perfectionism, exposure to mental disorders, harassment and predation. Most other claims were judged to have insufficient evidence due to limited, inconsistent, or non-causal data. Researchers also raised broader concerns, including challenges in measuring mental health and establishing causality, geographic bias in existing evidence, and the need for policies that account for diverse risks and avoid unintended harms. This collective review offers a foundation for future research and policy.
Authors: Valerio Capraro, Laura Globig, Zach Rausch, Steve Rathje, Alexandra S. Wormley, Jay Olson, Robert M Ross, Sinan Asci, Ayoub Bouguettaya, Kaitlyn Burnell, Sophia Choukas-Bradley, Jasmine Fardouly, Rachel Kowert, Richard B. Lopez, Anne J. Maheux, Dan-Mircea Mirea, Phillip Ozimek, Dylan Faulkner Selterman, Tara Thiagarajan, Laura Vandenbosch, Sammy Wals, Elia Abi-Jaoude, Perry Samuel John Adler, Kara S. Alaimo, Jon-Patrick Allem, Vahid Ahrafi, Susanne Baumgartner, Patrick K. Bender, Gaia Bernstein, Syon Bhanot, Emily L. Bilek, Michel Boivin, Luca Braghieri, Julia Brailovskaia, justin peter brienza, Cameron James Bunker, Romain Cadario, Celeste Campos-Castillo, Jason M. Chein, Lynn Schofield Clark, Jason B. Colditz, Mark Coulson, Amelia C. Couture Bue, Thomas Curran, Serena Daalmans, Diag D. Davenport, Meredith E. David, Christopher G Davis, Katie Davis, Munmun De Choudhury, Tim Derksen, Linda Dezső, Sarah E. Domoff, Morgan Ellithorpe, Elizabeth K. Englander, Samira Farivar, Daniel Fernandez-Kranz, Jacob T. Fisher, Joy Gabrielli, Douglas A. Gentile, Matthew Gentzkow, Osea Giuntella, Biljana Gjoneska, Melanie C. Green, Lauren Hale, John D. Haltigan, Jessica L. Hamilton, Tilo Hartmann, Benjamin E. Hilbig, Stephen P. Hinshaw, Jillian Hmurovic, Beth L Hoffman, Matthew Hornsey, Melissa G. 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 L. Navarro, Stefano Pagliarani, Vincent Paquin, Douglas A. Parry, Nicholas V. Pavic, Sarah Pila, Marc N. Potenza, Thomas Potrebny, Brian A. Primack, Phil Reed, Yefim Roth, Pamela Rutledge, Fabio Sabatini, Dasha A. Sandra, Daniel Sazhin, Ariel Shensa, L. J. Shrum, Zeev Shtudiner, Elida Sina, Michael Sobolev, Eszter Somogyi, Lena Song, Helen Thai, Johannes Thrul, Marika Tiggemann, Roberto Truzoli, Tyler J. VanderWeele, Samuel P. L. Veissière, Carol Vidal, Marek Albert Vranka, Joshua Watson, Elisa Wegmann, Paul Weigle, Whitney Whitted, Simon Wilksch, Mark Williams, Ning Zhang, Laura Zimmermann, Ethan, Jonathan Haidt, Jay Joseph Van Bavel
Subfield: Sociology and Political Science
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: gold
OpenAlex ID: W4417279986