One of the primary concerns driving governments to limit teenagers’ access to social media is the potential negative impact on mental health.
According to Statista’s Anna Fleck, the conversation has been reignited by the publication of a new book titled The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt, a social psychologist at New York University, who directly links the increase in mental health issues to the widespread use of social networks and smartphones.
Haidt clarifies that social media and smartphones are not the sole factors contributing to the mental health crisis observed in various countries. He highlights how these technologies are impeding children’s healthy development by reducing their time spent engaging with friends in real life, disrupting their sleep patterns, and eroding their self-esteem. Haidt argues that even children who do not use social media are affected due to the shifts in social interactions. Critics, however, point out that correlation does not imply causation and argue that the data does not present a complete picture.
As depicted in the following graph, the percentage of U.S. teenagers aged 12-17 who have experienced a major depressive episode in the past year has surged from 7.9% in 2006 to 18.1% in 2023.
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Although the figure has decreased from the peak of 20.1% during the pandemic in 2021, it remains higher than the rates in 2019 and 2020.
This information is sourced from the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. The organization defines a major depressive episode in the past 12 months as experiencing at least two weeks of feeling depressed or losing interest or pleasure in daily activities for most of the day almost every day. Symptoms may include disruptions in sleeping, eating, energy levels, concentration, self-esteem, or recurrent thoughts of death or suicide.
In 2023, the percentage of teens reporting a major depressive episode was notably high among Multiracial respondents (24.4%), followed by white adolescents (19.6%), Asian teens (13.7%), and Black teenagers (13.3%).
Data for Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander adolescents was insufficient for analysis.
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