Beyond screen time: rethinking social media as a developmental context for adolescent well-being

In a recent longitudinal study of more than 100,000 Australian adolescents, Singh and colleagues reported a U-shaped association between social media use and well-being (1). Adolescents reporting moderate levels of social media use generally demonstrated the most favorable well-being profiles, whereas both heavy users and non-users reported less favorable outcomes. Importantly, these associations varied according to age and sex. While heavy use was consistently associated with poorer well-being, complete abstinence was also associated with poorer outcomes in several groups, particularly among older adolescent boys (1). These findings challenge several common assumptions regarding social media and adolescent health and provide an opportunity to rethink how clinicians, researchers, and policymakers conceptualize adolescent digital engagement.