Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) - Sloan School of Management; Einaudi Institute for Economics and Finance (EIEF); Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR)
New York University (NYU) - Department of Psychology & Neural Science
Date Written: May 16, 2025
Abstract
The impact of smartphones and social media use on adolescent mental health remains widely debated. To clarify expert opinion, we convened over 120 international researchers from 11 disciplines, representing a broad range of views. Using a Delphi method, the panel evaluated 26 claims covering international trends in adolescent mental health, causal links to smartphones and social media, and policy recommendations. The experts suggested 1,400 references and produced a consensus statement for each claim. The following conclusions were rated as accurate or somewhat accurate by 92–97% of respondents: First, adolescent mental health has declined in several Western countries over the past 20 years. Second, heavy smartphone and social media use can cause sleep problems. Third, smartphone and social media use correlate with attention problems and behavioural addiction. Fourth, among girls, social media use may be associated with body dissatisfaction, perfectionism, exposure to mental disorders, and risk of sexual harassment and predation. Fifth, evidence on social deprivation and relational aggression is limited. Sixth, the evidence for policies like age restrictions and school bans is preliminary. Overall, the results of this deliberative process and the set of concrete recommendations provided can help guide future research and evidence-informed policy on adolescent technology use.
Keywords: social media, mental health, adolescence, consensus statement, sleep, addiction, attention, sociality, development, cyberbulling, harassment, social contagion, body image, policymaking, interventions
Capraro, Valerio and Globig, Laura and Rausch, Zachary and Rathje, Steve and Wormley, Alexandra and Olson, Jay and Ross, Robert and Aşçı, Sinan and Bouguettaya, Ayoub and Burnell, Kaitlyn and Choukas-Bradley, Sophia and Fardouly, Jasmine and Kowert, Rachel and Lopez, Richard and Maheux, Anne and Mirea, Dan-Mircea and Ozimek, Phillip and Selterman, Dylan and Thiagarajan, Tara and Vandenbosch, Laura and Wals, Sammy and Abi-Jaoude, Elia and Adler, Perry and Alaimo, Kara and Allem, Jon-Patrick and Ashrafi, Vahid and Baumgartner, Susanne E. and Bender, Patrick and Bernstein, Gaia and Bhanot, Syon and Bilek, Emily and Boivin, Michel and Braghieri, Luca and Brailovskaia, Julia and Brienza, Justin and Bunker, Cameron and Cadario, Romain and Campos-Castillo, Celeste and Chein, Jason and Clark, Lynn and Colditz, Jason and Coulson, Mark and Couture Bue, Amelia and Coyne, Sarah M. and Curran, Thomas and Daalmans, Serena and Davenport, Diag and David, Meredith and Davis, Chris and Davis, Katie and De Choudhury, Munmun and Derksen, Tim and Dezső, Linda and Domoff, Sarah E. and Ellithorpe, Morgan and Englander, Elizabeth K. and Farivar, Samira and Fernandez-Kranz, Daniel and Fisher, Jacob and Gabrielli, Joy and Gentile, Douglas and Gentzkow, Matthew and Giuntella, Osea and Gjoneska, Biljana and Green, Melanie and Hale, Lauren and Haltigan, John and Hamilton, Jessica and Hartmann, Tilo and Hilbig, Benjamin and Hinshaw, Stephen P. and Hmurovic, Jillian and Hoffman, Beth and Hornsey, Matthew and Hunt, Melissa and Janicke-Bowles, Sophie and Kim, El-Lim and Kuss, Daria J. and Lee, David S. and Levy, Ro'ee and Maani, Nason and Makarin, Alexey and Mendelson, Tamar and Michikyan, Minas and Miconi, Diana and Milani, Luca and Modecki, Kathryn and Molnar, Andras and Navarro, Jessica and Pagliarani, Stefano and Paquin, Vincent and Parry, Douglas and Pavic, Nicholas and Pila, Sarah and Potenza, Marc N. and Potrebny, Thomas and Primack, Brian and Reed, Phil and Roth, Yefim and Rutledge, Pamela and Rutledge, Pamela and Sabatini, Fabio and Sandra, Dasha and Sazhin, Daniel and Shensa, Ariel and Shrum, L. J. and Shtudiner, Ze'ev and Sina, Elida and Sobolev, Michael and Somogyi, Eszter and Song, Lena and Thai, Helen and Thrul, Johannes and Tiggemann, Marika and Truzoli, Roberto and VanderWeele, Tyler and Veissiere, Samuel and Vidal, Carol and Vranka, Marek and Watson, Joshua and Wegmann, Elisa and Weigle, Paul and Whitted, Whitney and Wilksch, Simon and Williams, Mark and Zhang, Ning and Zimmermann, Laura and Kross, Ethan and Haidt, Jonathan and Van Bavel, Jay J., A Consensus Statement on Potential Negative Impacts of Smartphone and Social Media Use on Adolescent Mental Health (May 16, 2025). Seton Hall Law School Legal Studies Research Forthcoming, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=5256747 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.5256747
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