Wow just wow. This research you share and your clear explanations were so helpful. While I look at international research in all of my parenting work, I had not dug into the international research on teen mental health. In the US we often only think that things affect us and our children, but this is truly an international crisis.
Thank you for this detailed analysis. With the amassing data on the role that social media plays in the mental health deterioration of youth, it is high time to take action. We cannot expect swift action from government, policy makers, or school administrators. The action needs to start around the kitchen table, and parents must take the lead in serving as role models for their children if there is to be any hope. I will be publishing an essay this weekend 'From Feeding Moloch to 'Digital Minimalism' on my substack School of the Unconformed https://schooloftheunconformed.substack.com/, for those interested in taking concrete steps toward forming a digital detox community.
as a measure of artistic support for your work... i just posted another piece, today... about our "young generation" and their relationship to digital heroin.
I wonder if, especially with adolescent girls, the world they see on social media doesn’t align with their every day reality. This dissonance causes depression due to false expectations not matching up with reality (social life, family, body image, etc).
One step we could take now is increase the daily time kids spend (in school & at home) being "active" & decrease the time being "inactive". A sedentary (sitting, scrolling, watching screens) lifestyle correlates with negative outcomes: https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-wales-65188535
Just to play devil’s advocate - I’m wondering if it’s possible that the culture has normalized mental illness and mental health issues so that it is being reported more honestly now. This could also be an effect of Social Media or Media in general.
What an important work/research. It’s truly overwhelming to contemplate. Here’s my two-bits worth: our children are depressed and anxious because their parents are distressed. The parents are distressed because leadership and polarization have created an environment of mistrust and negativity. Our children- and they are ALL OURS- are the canaries in the coal mine. They reflect what the adults around them are feeling. ‘Nuff said.
1 Some inevitabilities: Smartphones (6.84 billion & counting) will advance technologically & dominate the market; teens (& preteens) will always want one & parents will be under constant pressure to acquiesce; schools will find it (almost) impossible to control/inhibit/forbid in-school use; social media giants will "improve" ways to increase the time users spend on their devices; kids will call parents/teachers hypocrites for the "do what say, not what I do" approach to cellphone use.
2 Some observations based on personal experience: Girls, more than boys, share feelings (esp unhappy ones) with friends; gossip (especially about other girls); are sensitive about their appearance; spend less time exercising. Boys, more than girls, suppress their feelings; spend less on-line time with social media & more with games; talk more about sports & less about their own physical appearances.
3 What can we do with a reasonable expectation of success? Parents can model appropriate behaviors for their kids from infancy to adulthood (cell phone use, exercise, diet, recreation, literacy, education, etc) Kids are mimics; they watch/listen to us & learn. Parents can seek appropriate peer groups for kids (see JR Harris/Pinker). Schools/parents focus on media literacy & cognitive skills (see Kahneman/Pinker). Parents build a trusting relationship with their kids. Parents are the key & the job is VERY, VERY HARD!
I am convinced the introduction of social media on mobile is the reason. I have worked with mobile services since early 00:
2008: Facebook mobile app introduced on IOS
2009: FB mobile app on Android
2009: PUSH NOTIFICATIONS are introduced. This is huge and gasoline on a started fire. Non-tech researchers must understand this. Before PNs, apps had to send notifications as SMS, and each cost money for the app company. PTs are free, and its use was and is still maximized. An app can now easily send a notification to a whole group for example.
2010: Instagram launches (trends like curating your bio photos emerge ” you are your bio”). Perfect use and match for push notifs.
This is very compelling work. Behavioral patterns are complex and one would expect that the influences on them are multi-factorial, but it's worth thinking about what factors are compelling enough to move the needle on whole populations, or whole population sectors of multiple nations. The internet, social media and mobile devices like smart-phones are all pervasive factors in modern societies that have deeply penetrated populations, particularly younger sectors to an incredible degree in the last decade. I see this phenomenon repeatedly as I follow my teenage son around to his sporting events. Amongst the spectators in the stands, the attention of individuals (far more women than men, in my observation) is divided between what's occurring on the field and what's happening on the screen of the smart phone. Even those paying attention to the event rapidly turn to their devices during the brief intervals when play is interrupted on the field. the other day I saw several female teens sitting together and every single one was staring at a screen. What is so compelling about what's there that neither the event they were attending nor their presence with one another was adequate to break their connection with those devices? There was a time when the only image you had of yourself was what you saw in the bathroom mirror once or twice a day. Now images and selfies are collected constantly, stored in picture archives, published on social media and swapped constantly. People are acutely aware of their appearance, their behavioral gestures and are constantly judging themselves on how others may perceive them. We are bombarded by images of ourselves and others, which are then subconsciously compared to "beautiful people" whose carefully curated appearance creates an impossible standard to meet. We're doing this silent stuff in crowds, instead of paying attention to one another. The behavior is addictive and disruptive to normal interactions between people. It fosters a constant vigilance , hyper-awareness and general arousal that isn't normal. And, it is happening on a massive scale, enough to move the meter on the behavioral health of whole sectors of populations across the entire world. Scary? You betcha!
Another pervasive factor weighing on the minds of all of us, including young people, is our environment and the ticking clock on global warming. We hear increasingly about how fundamental change in our personal and corporate behavior is necessary to avoid a global catastrophe that is coming soon, in our lifetime, if we don't change drastically. Then, when we look around ourselves, we don't see accessible ways to make fundamental change. An electric vehicle is costly. Switching our home systems from fossil fuels to electricity is costly. Adding home solar power is costly. Much of the energy consumption is commercial and industrial, environments where we have very little influence unless we are high in the leadership hierarchy. Last summer's June heatwave injured and killed mature trees on my property. Those trees are 50-120 years old. They can't be easily or quickly replaced; there's no rational reason to assume that subsequent years will be cooler, more moist than last year. My family's cars are between 10 and 35 years old, still have plenty of useful life in them. They all burn fossil fuels. The bus only runs once each way per day through my neighborhood. Alternatives to the vehicles I own are not easily accessible. The crisis is upon us and the changes needed to change my carbon footprint are expensive and substantially accessible. My child hears this stuff too. It's his future we need to worry about; mine is far shorter than his. Multiply this awareness across hundreds of millions of people and what do you get? Rising anxiety, a rising sense of hopelessness, depression?
Wow just wow. This research you share and your clear explanations were so helpful. While I look at international research in all of my parenting work, I had not dug into the international research on teen mental health. In the US we often only think that things affect us and our children, but this is truly an international crisis.
Thank you for this detailed analysis. With the amassing data on the role that social media plays in the mental health deterioration of youth, it is high time to take action. We cannot expect swift action from government, policy makers, or school administrators. The action needs to start around the kitchen table, and parents must take the lead in serving as role models for their children if there is to be any hope. I will be publishing an essay this weekend 'From Feeding Moloch to 'Digital Minimalism' on my substack School of the Unconformed https://schooloftheunconformed.substack.com/, for those interested in taking concrete steps toward forming a digital detox community.
There is some data available about self harming https://www.julkari.fi/bitstream/handle/10024/145433/URN_ISBN_978-952-343-966-5.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y This study is in Finnish and includes only COVID-19 time
Also short new from Finnish broadcasting company https://yle.fi/a/3-10659409
nicely done, Zach & Jon — so thorough 🙏🏼
as a measure of artistic support for your work... i just posted another piece, today... about our "young generation" and their relationship to digital heroin.
https://opentochange.substack.com/p/attn-young-generation
I wonder if, especially with adolescent girls, the world they see on social media doesn’t align with their every day reality. This dissonance causes depression due to false expectations not matching up with reality (social life, family, body image, etc).
Is that Iceland increase number (purple) wrong in Fig 4. Seems it should be higher than 6.9%? Should be highest
===
Very comprehensive work Zach and I appreciate the inclusion of contrary trends.
One note: your 'loneliness' measure is not loneliness but an aggregate measure of school alienation; see my critique The Perils of Improper Terminology: A Comment on The Smartphone Trap [https://theshoresofacademia.blogspot.com/2021/09/the-perils-of-improper-terminology.html].
One question: why no suicide trend data?
Thank you for doing this work!
Maybe there will be one country brave enough to take action to protect the children from this, because it sure seems like too many parents just won’t
One step we could take now is increase the daily time kids spend (in school & at home) being "active" & decrease the time being "inactive". A sedentary (sitting, scrolling, watching screens) lifestyle correlates with negative outcomes: https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-wales-65188535
Just to play devil’s advocate - I’m wondering if it’s possible that the culture has normalized mental illness and mental health issues so that it is being reported more honestly now. This could also be an effect of Social Media or Media in general.
What an important work/research. It’s truly overwhelming to contemplate. Here’s my two-bits worth: our children are depressed and anxious because their parents are distressed. The parents are distressed because leadership and polarization have created an environment of mistrust and negativity. Our children- and they are ALL OURS- are the canaries in the coal mine. They reflect what the adults around them are feeling. ‘Nuff said.
1 Some inevitabilities: Smartphones (6.84 billion & counting) will advance technologically & dominate the market; teens (& preteens) will always want one & parents will be under constant pressure to acquiesce; schools will find it (almost) impossible to control/inhibit/forbid in-school use; social media giants will "improve" ways to increase the time users spend on their devices; kids will call parents/teachers hypocrites for the "do what say, not what I do" approach to cellphone use.
2 Some observations based on personal experience: Girls, more than boys, share feelings (esp unhappy ones) with friends; gossip (especially about other girls); are sensitive about their appearance; spend less time exercising. Boys, more than girls, suppress their feelings; spend less on-line time with social media & more with games; talk more about sports & less about their own physical appearances.
3 What can we do with a reasonable expectation of success? Parents can model appropriate behaviors for their kids from infancy to adulthood (cell phone use, exercise, diet, recreation, literacy, education, etc) Kids are mimics; they watch/listen to us & learn. Parents can seek appropriate peer groups for kids (see JR Harris/Pinker). Schools/parents focus on media literacy & cognitive skills (see Kahneman/Pinker). Parents build a trusting relationship with their kids. Parents are the key & the job is VERY, VERY HARD!
I am convinced the introduction of social media on mobile is the reason. I have worked with mobile services since early 00:
2008: Facebook mobile app introduced on IOS
2009: FB mobile app on Android
2009: PUSH NOTIFICATIONS are introduced. This is huge and gasoline on a started fire. Non-tech researchers must understand this. Before PNs, apps had to send notifications as SMS, and each cost money for the app company. PTs are free, and its use was and is still maximized. An app can now easily send a notification to a whole group for example.
2010: Instagram launches (trends like curating your bio photos emerge ” you are your bio”). Perfect use and match for push notifs.
This is very compelling work. Behavioral patterns are complex and one would expect that the influences on them are multi-factorial, but it's worth thinking about what factors are compelling enough to move the needle on whole populations, or whole population sectors of multiple nations. The internet, social media and mobile devices like smart-phones are all pervasive factors in modern societies that have deeply penetrated populations, particularly younger sectors to an incredible degree in the last decade. I see this phenomenon repeatedly as I follow my teenage son around to his sporting events. Amongst the spectators in the stands, the attention of individuals (far more women than men, in my observation) is divided between what's occurring on the field and what's happening on the screen of the smart phone. Even those paying attention to the event rapidly turn to their devices during the brief intervals when play is interrupted on the field. the other day I saw several female teens sitting together and every single one was staring at a screen. What is so compelling about what's there that neither the event they were attending nor their presence with one another was adequate to break their connection with those devices? There was a time when the only image you had of yourself was what you saw in the bathroom mirror once or twice a day. Now images and selfies are collected constantly, stored in picture archives, published on social media and swapped constantly. People are acutely aware of their appearance, their behavioral gestures and are constantly judging themselves on how others may perceive them. We are bombarded by images of ourselves and others, which are then subconsciously compared to "beautiful people" whose carefully curated appearance creates an impossible standard to meet. We're doing this silent stuff in crowds, instead of paying attention to one another. The behavior is addictive and disruptive to normal interactions between people. It fosters a constant vigilance , hyper-awareness and general arousal that isn't normal. And, it is happening on a massive scale, enough to move the meter on the behavioral health of whole sectors of populations across the entire world. Scary? You betcha!
But what changed from 2017 onwards? Nothing immediately comes to mind.
Another pervasive factor weighing on the minds of all of us, including young people, is our environment and the ticking clock on global warming. We hear increasingly about how fundamental change in our personal and corporate behavior is necessary to avoid a global catastrophe that is coming soon, in our lifetime, if we don't change drastically. Then, when we look around ourselves, we don't see accessible ways to make fundamental change. An electric vehicle is costly. Switching our home systems from fossil fuels to electricity is costly. Adding home solar power is costly. Much of the energy consumption is commercial and industrial, environments where we have very little influence unless we are high in the leadership hierarchy. Last summer's June heatwave injured and killed mature trees on my property. Those trees are 50-120 years old. They can't be easily or quickly replaced; there's no rational reason to assume that subsequent years will be cooler, more moist than last year. My family's cars are between 10 and 35 years old, still have plenty of useful life in them. They all burn fossil fuels. The bus only runs once each way per day through my neighborhood. Alternatives to the vehicles I own are not easily accessible. The crisis is upon us and the changes needed to change my carbon footprint are expensive and substantially accessible. My child hears this stuff too. It's his future we need to worry about; mine is far shorter than his. Multiply this awareness across hundreds of millions of people and what do you get? Rising anxiety, a rising sense of hopelessness, depression?