How Screentime Impacts Mental Health

The design of social media apps like Instagram and YouTube can be harmful to mental health, juries in California and New Mexico recently found. The verdicts have focused attention on how screentime impacts mental health, especially with children, and the need for users to take action to protect their well-being.  

In the California case, the jury awarded $6 million to a 20-year-old woman who alleged that constant social media use as a child caused her severe anxiety, depression, and body dysmorphia. Jurors in New Mexico agreed with the state’s attorney general, who filed a lawsuit alleging that Meta, the owner of Instagram and WhatsApp, intentionally designed its products to be addictive and failed to protect children who used them. The jury ordered Meta to pay the state $375 million in damages.

Costly court verdicts like these may eventually prompt social media companies to change the design of their apps, but users should not wait. Here are some steps you can take now to protect yourself and your children.

Risk of Mental Health Problems Doubles

Kids who spend more than three hours a day on social media double their risk of mental health problems, including depression and anxiety, according to an advisory issued by the U.S. Office of the Surgeon General. Almost half of adolescents ages 13 to 17 said social media makes them feel worse about their body image.

Social media can negatively impact kids’ mental health in several ways, including:

• Reduced self-esteem, from comparing themselves to what they see on social media.
• Fear of missing out (FOMO), the anxiety that comes from a perception that their friends are having good times without them.
• Dopamine loops, where the brain is conditioned to crave the release of dopamine, the neurotransmitter associated with pleasure. Frequently checking social media for likes and comments triggers the release of dopamine and can lead to addictive behavior.
• Attention fragmentation, brought on by constant notifications that make it difficult to concentrate on other things like schoolwork.
• Sleep disruption, caused by exposure to the blue light emitted by screens, which suppresses the production of melatonin, the hormone that signals the body it’s time to sleep. Engagement in emotionally charged content on social media can also keep the brain aroused, making it harder to sleep.
• Harassment, through exposure to negative comments or cyberbullying, which can lead to isolation, anxiety, and depression.
• Algorithm rabbit holes, where users are relentlessly fed certain content by social media algorithms, sending them down “rabbit holes” that may be harmful, such as pro-anorexia content.
• Lack of in-person socialization, which can cause stress, chronic loneliness, depression, and thoughts of suicide.

While kids are the most vulnerable, adults can also be affected by many of these issues.

How to Take Action

It may be tempting to cut your kids off from all social media use, but that’s not realistic. Instead, use these strategies to make social media safer for your children—and yourself.

• Create a family social media plan. Involve your kids in developing a plan for how the entire family will use social media. Your kids will be more likely to stick with the plan if they have a say in creating it. The American Academy of Pediatrics offers an online template for building a family social media plan.
• Set limits and rules. As part of the family social media plan, designate screen-free zones (such as bedrooms at night) and screen-free times. For example, no phones allowed during family meals.
• Use parent control tools. Google’s Family Link and Apple’s Screen Time allow parents to manage how their children access social media on phones and other devices. There are also freestanding apps that enable parents to monitor their kids’ social media use, including Bark, Qustodio, and Aura.
• Check in with your kids about social media. In addition to using technology to keep an eye on what your kids are doing on social media, talk with them regularly about what they’ve seen on social media, how it made them feel, and how to respond to that kind of content in the future.
• Take regular breaks. Consider setting aside one day a week to be screen-free, such as Saturdays, when the family is focused on other activities like doing volunteer work or going for a hike. Another option is to pick a week when all family members will go screen-free.
• Turn off notifications. Prevent notifications from distracting your kids and pulling them into social media apps by turning off or limiting the alerts. Use the settings app on phones and other devices to stop or reduce notifications.
• Teach your kids to post selectively. Talk with your children about how the content they post remains permanent and can be used against them later, such as in college admissions or job applications. Teach them to be selective about what they share online and to be careful about who they share it with.
• Explain fantasy vs. reality. Look at photos on social media with your kids and explain to them how filters, photo editing apps, and artificial intelligence can be used to distort reality and alter people’s appearances. Help them understand the difference between fantasy and reality when it comes to other people’s photos on social media.
• Talk openly about how social media works. Educate your children about the methods that social media uses to keep them engaged, like alerts that condition them to constantly check their phones. The goal is to teach them how to spot manipulative “hooks” that social media uses and avoid them. Read more about helping kids develop social media literacy.
• Model healthy behavior. As a parent, you can set a good example for your children. Limit your own screentime and take frequent breaks from social media, like you would expect your kids to do.

Protect Your Own Mental Health

Parents should monitor their kids’ social media activity to safeguard their mental health, but they also need to be concerned about their own social media use, such as endless scrolling through content that makes them feel sad or anxious—a habit known as “doomscrolling.” To learn more about strategies for stopping doomscrolling and finding substitute activities, check out our blog article on healthy alternatives to doomscrolling.