Whiteman, Natasha, O'Reilly, Michelle, Dogra, Nisha, Hughes, Jason, Eruyar, Seyda and Reilly, Paul 2018. Is social media bad for mental health and wellbeing? Exploring the perspectives of adolescents. Clinical Child Psychology and Psychiatry. 23 (4), pp. 503-662. https://doi.org/10.1177/1359104518775
| Title | Is social media bad for mental health and wellbeing? Exploring the perspectives of adolescents |
|---|---|
| Type | Journal article |
| Authors | Whiteman, Natasha, O'Reilly, Michelle, Dogra, Nisha, Hughes, Jason, Eruyar, Seyda and Reilly, Paul |
| Abstract | Despite growing evidence of the effects of social media on the mental health of adolescents, there is still a dearth of empirical research into how adolescents themselves perceive social media, especially as knowledge resource, or how they draw upon the wider social and media discourses to express a viewpoint. Accordingly, this article contributes to this scarce literature. Six focus groups took place over 3 months with 54 adolescents aged 11–18 years, recruited from schools in Leicester and London (UK). Thematic analysis suggested that adolescents perceived social media as a threat to mental wellbeing and three themes were identified: (1) it was believed to cause mood and anxiety disorders for some adolescents, (2) it was viewed as a platform for cyberbullying and (3) the use of social media itself was often framed as a kind of ‘addiction’. Future research should focus on targeting and utilising social media for promoting mental wellbeing among adolescents and educating youth to manage the possible deleterious effects. |
| Journal | Clinical Child Psychology and Psychiatry |
| Journal citation | 23 (4), pp. 503-662 |
| ISSN | 1359-1045 |
| 1461-7021 | |
| Year | 2018 |
| Publisher | Sage |
| Digital Object Identifier (DOI) | https://doi.org/10.1177/1359104518775 |
| Publication dates | |
| Published | 20 May 2018 |