Adolescent Anxiety in the Social Media Age (Part II)
By Dr. Mehri Moore, M.D. As we covered in Part I of this article, numerous scientific studies have demonstrated the concerning connection between adolescent anxiety, depression, and suicide and excessive smartphone and social media use. According to research conducted by San Diego State University professor of psychology Jean Twenge, for instance, adolescents who use social media every day are 13% more likely to report frequent depressive symptoms than those who use social media more sparingly. The proliferation of social media has not been without detrimental effects on young men, but data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggests that young women have had an even tougher time adjusting. While suicide deaths among 15- to 19-year-old males increased by 31% from 2007 to 2015, they more...
