South Australia has a history of legislative ‘firsts’ in this country and in some instances, the world.
On December 10th new laws, will come into effect nationally, based on a report released by the South Australian government in 2024 outlining a plan to implement a social media ban for the children of this state and urging nationally consistent legislation. These laws create a new duty of care for social media platforms requiring them to prevent children under 14 from using their services and to obtain parental consent for those aged 14 and 15.
Like all new legislation opinion is divided but what do we know of the deleterious effects of social media on children?
Social Media and Youth Mental Health
In 2024 Weigle and Shafi published a review of recent evidence regarding the relationship between the social media habits and experiences and the mental health of young people with a focus on suicide, depression and anxiety, cyberbullying and sexting. Mental health contagion, the adoption of a mental health condition based on the experience of others, was also studied.
What Does the Literature Say?
Like many complex issues results are mixed with most correlational studies reporting that the more time spent on social media, the less mentally healthy young people are, although some studies have found no correlation, and a few the opposite. Meta-analytic reviews of studies report ‘a significant association between social media use and adolescent ill-being, with an effect size in the range of small to moderate’.
The authors suggest the explanation for this is ‘not fully known and likely complex and bi-directional.’ They note that it is the absence of other activities including socialising in person, chores, hobbies, homework, family meals, exercise and sleep that may be most important. Insomnia is a strong mediator between screen time and mental health ‘suggesting that excessive screen time displaces adequate sleep, resulting in declines in mental health.’ However, screen time may also displace risky behaviour and may partly explain a reduction in adolescent substance use, pregnancy, motor vehicle death.
Learning about mental health diagnoses through social media has resulted in an increase in young people presenting with a self-diagnosis which may either help or hinder appropriate treatment. Contagion effects are more common in younger women and while difficult to study there is preliminary evidence that they may be implicated in presentation of tics, eating disordered behaviour, self-harm , suicidality, and gender dysphoria.
Is it a Good Idea?
Despite the ambiguity of the data this legislation has value beyond the immediate effects of potentially limiting young people’s access to harmful content. It properly aligns responsibility with media companies who have profited from adolescents’ engagement and alerts parents to their responsibility to protect their child by clearly stating that parental consent is required for 14- and 15-year-olds. Accompanying information about the new laws has been advice and support to parents to assist them in this task. What is clear is that more attention needs to be paid to encouraging alternative activities that we know promote good mental health. A focus on what is not in a young person’s life and finding ways to introduce this may be more useful than a singular removal of a harmful activity.
Weigle, P. and Shafi, R.Social Media and Youth Mental Health Current Psychiatry Reports (2024) 26:1–8 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11920-023-01478-w
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