Even some teens say social media is hurting their mental health

Washington Post

25-04-2025

Against the backdrop of a deepening mental health crisis among American teenagers, a newly released survey of teens and their parents by Pew Research Center reveals that teens are increasingly concerned about social media's effect on people their age. And their parents are even more likely to identify these platforms as a primary influence affecting their children's well-being.
The Pew survey of more than 1,390 U.S. teens (ages 13 to 17) and parents, conducted in fall 2024 and released Tuesday, revealed 55 percent of parents report being extremely or very concerned about teens' mental health and 44 percent of this group identified social media as the factor that has the biggest negative impact on teens.
Teenagers identified a broader range of influences and pressures that affect their mental health — including bullying, pressures and expectations, and the state of the world — and were less likely than their parents to point to social media as the biggest threat. Among teens who said they are at least somewhat concerned about their peers' mental health, 22 percent identified social media as the factor with the most negative impact. But the survey also revealed a growing wariness among teens about the influence of social media: Roughly half (48 percent) said it has a mostly negative effect on their peers, an increase from 32 percent in 2022.
Teens also noted that social media is taking up more of their time and focus: 45 percent say they spend too much time on social media — up from the 36 percent in the 2022 Pew survey — and teen girls were more likely than boys to say that it is harming their mental health, their sense of confidence or their sleep.
These findings support a general trend that researchers have been following for well over a decade, said Tamar Mendelson, professor and director of the Center for Adolescent Health at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
'Since around 2011, when smartphones were really coming into action, we saw that rates of mental health issues like depression and anxiety began to increase and have been increasing since that time,' Mendelson said. 'We saw the bump during covid, but even before that, we were seeing that these rates were increasing, and particularly for girls.'
Still, the existing research about social media's influence on teens is nuanced, Mendelson said, and these digital spaces can also offer benefits. A majority (74 percent) of the teens Pew surveyed see the platforms as positive spaces where they connect and nurture friendships, while 63 percent of teenagers said social media offers a place to showcase their creativity. And 34 percent said they sometimes find helpful resources regarding mental health there.
'I am a believer that it's more how social media platforms are used, not simply the fact that they're used,' Mendelson said. Beyond the amount of time spent online, she said, 'one question is: What is social media replacing in a young person's life? If it's replacing meals with family, healthy bedtimes, time spent actually socializing with friends in person, then that's concerning.
'The other piece is — what are they doing online? We know that some sites and activities are really helpful for young people: They can be connecting with communities that make them feel seen; they can be actually learning things online that are helpful to them; they can be playing games with friends that are not harmful.'
Among other negative influences on mental health, 17 percent of teens identify bullying — in person and online — as a primary cause of issues, while 16 percent say pressures and expectations have the most significant impact.
Those sources of stress were revealed in greater detail in survey data released by Pew last month, which emphasized a gender divide among the pressures on — and perceptions of — today's teens. A majority of teens (68 percent) said they feel a great deal or a fair amount of pressure to get good grades, and 42 percent said the girls in their school receive better grades than boys, while just 3 percent said boys fare better. Girls were more likely to say they feel a great deal or fair amount of pressure to look good (55 percent) or to fit in socially (45 percent). Boys were more likely than girls — by a 20-point margin — to say they feel a great deal or fair amount of pressure to be physically strong, and they also were more likely to say they feel pressure to be good at sports.
Anxiety and depression topped the list of problems that teens identified among their peers at school, and 39 percent of teens who say anxiety and depression is common at their school say it's more prevalent among girls.
That may not be an accurate perception, though. Judy Chu, an author, researcher and lecturer at Stanford University with expertise in the psychosocial development of boys, notes that boys often convey emotional distress in different ways — and that disruptive or aggressive behavior can be a sign that they're suffering, too. (The survey showed that boys are more likely to be viewed as aggressive or disorderly — 63 percent of teens said that boys are more disruptive in class, and 44 percent of those said physical fights are more common among boys.)
Our societal focus has often swung between girls and boys, 'and it kind of feeds into this zero-sum thing,' Chu said. 'Should we be focusing on girls? Should we be focusing on boys? The answer is we should be focusing on both, because our social constructions of gender are harmful for everyone.'
Social media amplifies those constructions, Mendelson said: 'The standards for beauty or strength can be very unrealistic — through social media, we're seeing models and athletes, and we're comparing ourselves. But then these stereotypical gender norms also really cut off important aspects of our identities: For boys, a lot has been written about toxic masculinity and how it means that males don't get the same opportunities to learn how to express their feelings, to seek support or be vulnerable, and that can have really negative effects on mental health. And girls may feel that they can't express anger, they can't be competitive, assertive or ambitious.'
The stigmatization of male vulnerability also affects boys' ability to thrive in classrooms, Chu added: 'Boys have always been, and continue to be, socialized toward masculine norms — but vulnerability is essential in order to learn. You have to bring that humility. You have to be able to admit, at least to yourself, that you don't know something in order to go and learn it, or to ask for help from someone who can teach you.'
The Pew survey also showed that parents are attuned to these challenges and want to engage with their teens about mental health. Eight in 10 parents say they would be extremely or very comfortable talking to their teen about mental health (teens aren't quite as comfortable, with 52 percent saying they feel the same way). And by double-digit margins, more adults said there is too little emphasis on encouraging boys to talk about their feelings and to do well in school rather than too much emphasis.
'I think that's great news,' Mendelson said. 'That was one of a few hopeful elements in the data.'
Chu also found this encouraging, but noted that parents and society still have much work to do to create a space where teens can feel supported as they push against deeply instilled gender norms.
'Gen Xers grew up not being nurtured perfectly either, so these adults have healing and learning to do as well,' she said. While it's beneficial to encourage boys to be comfortable with vulnerability, and for girls to be more assertive and less concerned about their appearance, she said, it's also necessary to create a culture where those shifts are welcomed rather than stigmatized.
'We know what we need, but society, through our systems and our organizations, has not yet responded,' she said. 'The call has been there for decades, and we should be further along than we are.'