Social media can pose a “profound risk” to young people, the Surgeon General warns

The news

The Surgeon General of the United States, Dr. Vivek H. Murthy, issued a public advisory on Tuesday warning of the risks of using social media for young people. In a 19-page reportnoted dr. Murthy notes that while the effects of social media on adolescent mental health have not been fully understood and that social media may be helpful to some users, “there is ample evidence that social media may also carry a high risk of harm to mental health and well-being of children and adolescents.”

The surgeon general called on policymakers, technology companies, researchers and parents to “take urgent action” to protect themselves against the potential risks.

Why it matters: Young brains are particularly susceptible to social media.

“Adolescents aren’t just smaller adults,” said Dr. Murthy in an interview with The New York Times about the advice. “They’re at a different stage of development, and they’re at a critical stage of brain development.”

The report noted that “frequent social media use may be associated with marked changes in the developing brain in the amygdala (important for emotional learning and behavior) and the prefrontal cortex (important for impulse control, emotional regulation and moderating social behavior ), and could increase sensitivity to social rewards and punishments.

The report also cited research showing that up to 95 percent of teens reported using at least one social media platform, while more than a third said they used social media “almost constantly.” In addition, nearly 40 percent of children ages 8 to 12 use social media, even though the minimum age requirement for most sites is 13.

Researchers are struggling to understand the impact of social media use on teen mental health. The data is inconclusive and indicates that the effects can be both positive and negative. For example, social media allows some young people to connect with others, find a community and express themselves.

But social media is also full of “extreme, inappropriate and harmful content,” the advisory noted, including content that “normalizes” self-harm, eating disorders and other destructive behaviors. Cyberbullying is rife. And the increase in social media use coincided with decreases in exercise, sleep and other activities considered vital for the developing brain.

In addition, social media spaces can be especially fraught for young people, the advisory added: “In early adolescence, when identities and a sense of self are forming, brain development is particularly sensitive to social pressures, peer opinions and comparisons with peers. peers.”

Background: The increased attention comes amid a mental health crisis among American youth.

The advice joins a growing number of calls to action around adolescents and social media as experts explore what role it may play in the ongoing crisis in teen mental health. Earlier this month, the American Psychological Association released its first-ever social media guidelines, recommending that parents keep a close eye on teen use and that tech companies rethink features like endless scrolling and the “Like” button.

What’s Next: The Surgeon General is calling for immediate action.

In the opinion, Dr. Murthy an “urgent need” for clarity on several research fronts. They include the types of social media content that cause harm; whether certain neurological pathways, such as those related to reward and addiction, are affected; and what strategies can be used to protect the mental health and well-being of children and adolescents.

“Our children have become unwitting participants in a decades-long experiment,” Dr. Murthy. “It is critical that independent researchers and technology companies work together to rapidly advance our understanding of the impact of social media on children and adolescents.”

Dr. Murthy also acknowledged that, until now, “the burden of protecting young people rests primarily on children, adolescents and their families”.

“That’s a lot to ask of parents — to take a new technology that is evolving rapidly that is fundamentally changing how kids see themselves” and ask parents to deal with it, Dr. Murthy to The Times. “So we need to do what we’re doing in other areas where we have product safety issues, which is to set safety standards that parents can rely on, that are actually enforced.