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Montag C, Demetrovics Z, Elhai JD, Grant D, Koning I, Rumpf HJ, M Spada M, Throuvala M, van den Eijnden R. Problematic social media use in childhood and adolescence. Addict Behav 2024; 153:107980. [PMID: 38387131 DOI: 10.1016/j.addbeh.2024.107980] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/25/2023] [Revised: 01/23/2024] [Accepted: 02/05/2024] [Indexed: 02/24/2024]
Abstract
At the time of writing, about 4.59 billion people use social media with many adolescents using their social media accounts across a myriad of applications and platforms. According to recent statistics, in 2022 individuals spent an average of 151 minutes on social media each day, illustrating the global relevance of social media (Dixon, 2022a,b). One of the pressing questions, internationally, is whether social media use is harmful and/or addictive. This question is of particular importance because many teenagers - and younger adolescents - spend considerable time on these platforms, which have increasingly become an integral part of their lives. Moreover, considering lifespan development, adolescents may be particularly vulnerable to specific features and advertisements shown to them on social media platforms. Growing prevalence of poor mental health in young people has led to recent recommendations in the United States to routinely screen for anxiety in 8-18 year olds, and for depression and suicide risk for adolescents between 12-18 years of age (US Preventive Services Task Force et al., 2022 a,b) - the conditions often accompanying problematic social media use. The present work not only provides insights into the current state of the literature but provides also recommendations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christian Montag
- Department of Molecular Psychology, Institute of Psychology and Education, Ulm University, Ulm, Germany.
| | - Zsolt Demetrovics
- Institute of Psychology, ELTE Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, Hungary; Centre of Excellence in Responsible Gaming, University of Gibraltar, Gibraltar
| | - Jon D Elhai
- Department of Psychology, University of Toledo, Toledo, OH, United States; Department of Psychiatry, University of Toledo, Toledo, OH, United States
| | - Don Grant
- Center for Research and Innovation, Newport Healthcare, United States
| | - Ina Koning
- Faculty of Behavioural and Movement Sciences, Clinical Child and Family Studies, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Hans-Jürgen Rumpf
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Lübeck, Lübeck, Germany
| | | | - Melina Throuvala
- International Gaming Research Unit, Department of Psychology, Nottingham Trent University, Nottingham, UK; Inclusion West Midlands Gambling Harms Clinic, Stafford, UK; Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust, Paediatric Psychology, Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services, Leicester, UK
| | - Regina van den Eijnden
- Department of Interdisciplinary Social Science, Utrecht University, Utrecht, the Netherlands
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