The Impact of Social Media on Adolescent Mental Health

Abstract

The emergence of social media platforms has barely changed the way we connect and express ourselves, especially for adolescents, who emerge as some of the biggest users of social technologies. Social media takes many forms, and socially connected niches offer numerous benefits like connectedness, information sharing, and creative engagement, while simultaneously bringing contemporary issues that can significantly challenge the mental health and emotional wellbeing of young users. This research proposal looks at that relationship by examining social media usage and adolescent mental health by reviewing the most current trends, psychological outcomes, and behavioural patterns. The proposed research looks specifically at the frequency of usage, as well as the psychological patterns of anxiety, depression, low self-esteem, body image issues and cyberbullying associated with excessive or egregious levels of usage. The proposed research conducts a qualitative review of several components, such as literature review on social media and psychological effect, surveys, literature reviews, reports, as well as a few case studies looking at social media and mental health, along with adolescent mental health. The goal of the research is to comprehensively review some of the reported psychological benefits and consequences as they relate to overall usage, patterns in posting, type of engagement, and context of social media engagement on adolescent mental health. The study also gives consideration to moderating variables, like parental supervision/over-involvement, peer influence, and controversy around digital literacy. The analysis will emphasize the importance of finding balance while navigating social networks, mindful and critical engagement, healthy demographic and psychographic boundaries, and intentional, and targeted interventions from educators, parents and policy makers. We can find productive environments that create opportunity for connectedness and resilience when using social media use mindfully.