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• Posted March 20, 2026

Social Media Poses Risks to Children's Mental Health, Review Concludes

Social media is bad for kids, increasing their risk of depression, self-harm, substance use and behavior problems, a major evidence review has concluded.

The risk social media poses to kids’ health is “comparable with other modifiable lifestyle factors, such as physical inactivity and unhealthy diet,” concluded the research team led by Samantha Teague, a lecturer in psychology at James Cook University in Australia.

Researchers also found that video gaming has its good and bad sides, according to their report in JAMA Pediatrics.

Video games were linked with higher aggression and behavior problems, but also with enhanced ability to pay attention and carry through on tasks.

“Social media shows the most consistent adverse associations, while video gaming was associated with aggression and externalizing behavior, but also modestly higher attention/executive functioning,” researchers wrote.

For their review, they gathered data on 153 studies involving nearly 19,000 children between 2 and 19 years of age. Most were conducted in Europe and North America, but Asia, Australia and Latin America also were represented.

The goal of the review was to look at how digital media use affected child health and development.

Dr. Victor Fornari, vice chair for child and adolescent psychiatry at Zucker Hillside Hospital and Cohen Children’s Medical Center in Glen Oaks, New York, reviewed the findings.

“The challenge is really to say, ‘What is the impact of digital use on our youth, particularly social media?’, because there's been such a grave concern about what is contributing to the increase of anxiety and depression, suicidal ideation and behavior in our youth,” he said.

The study linked social media use to higher rates of depression, behavior problems, self-harm and substance use.

Associations between social media and depression were strongest among 12- to 15-year-olds, and weaker in children age 6 to 11, researchers said.

The results indicate that social media poses a toxic threat to kids’ well-being, said Fornari, who was not involved in the study.

"Social media is a new frontier, but it appears that many youths will say things on social media that they may not dare say face to face, not unlike what we might say in a text or an e-mail," he said. “But on social media it has a wider viewing, and I think that things are said that can be very hurtful and can have a profound impact. Many youths are bullied by peers on social media."

While some of the findings were "mild over time," Fornari said one can imagine that the effects could build up. 

In turn, that suggests "these results really do point to the fact that digital media use does have a consistent link with poor outcomes in youth, particularly in terms of their emotional health,” he said.

Parents need to talk to their kids about social media and video games, and the effect that these digital media might have on their well-being, Fornari said.

“Often parents say they give a cell phone to their children so they know how to text when they’re coming home from school or where they are, without really realizing that the cell phone today is really a small handheld computer that has access to the internet, social media and games,” he said.

Parents are often unaware what sites their kids are visiting and how much time they spend there, Fornari said.

"They really need to spend more time familiarizing themselves with it,” he said.

“Today, the cell phone has become part of the child and adolescent's life,” Fornari said. “I've guided parents to try not to just take it away as a punishment, because that can lead to really negative outcomes as well, but rather to talk to the youth about a healthy relationship with their cell phone and with their relationship with social media.”

He called on parents to pay attention.

“I think parents need to be much more aware and involved in the relationship that their youth has with their cell phones and with social media and video games so that they can monitor and guide them and be aware if the child is being bullied or is having some negative experience so they do not allow the situation to fester,” Fornari said.

More information

The American Academy of Pediatrics has more on creating a family media plan.

SOURCES: JAMA Pediatrics, March 9, 2026; Dr. Victor Fornari, vice chair for child and adolescent psychiatry, Zucker Hillside Hospital and Cohen Children’s Medical Center, Glen Oaks, New York