FRIDAY, March 13, 2026 (HealthDay News) -- Digital media use is consistently associated with risks to child and adolescent mental health and development globally, according to a review published online March 9 in JAMA Pediatrics.
Samantha Teague, Ph.D., from James Cook University in Townsville, Australia, and colleagues conducted a systematic literature review to examine associations between social media, video games, and other digital media use with health and developmental outcomes in children and adolescents.
Based on 153 included studies, the researchers found that social media use was associated with higher depression, externalizing and internalizing behaviors, self-injurious thoughts, problematic internet use, and substance use (range: r = 0.09 to 0.21). There were also negative associations with lower academic achievement, poorer self-perception, and less positive development (range: r = −0.14 to −0.07). There was an association between video gaming and higher aggression and externalizing behaviors (r = 0.16 and r = 0.17, respectively) and higher attention/executive functioning (r = 0.10). Digital device use and messaging/communication media were associated with depression (range: r = 0.05 to 0.12). In early adolescence, associations between social media and depression were stronger (β = 0.09). There were also stronger associations between more recent social media exposure years and substance use (β = 0.10).
"These findings also align with the bioecological model of child development, emphasizing dynamic interactions between children and their environment, including digital contexts," the authors write. "Policy and clinical responses should be developmentally informed and consider sensitive periods of brain development."