5 Things Parents Should Know About Social Media’s Impact on Teens’ Mental Health
November 27, 2023
Slightly more than half of U.S. teens spend at least four hours a day on social media and on average, all teens spend close to five, according to a recent Gallup survey, whose findings underscore the growing alarm over social media’s role in the youth mental health crisis.
Girls, who have been shown to be particularly vulnerable to the psychological harms of social media, spend even more time on the apps than boys (an average of 5.3 hours a day vs. 4.4 hours for boys) and the platforms consume more of teenagers’ lives as they move through high school: 4.1 hours a day on average for 13-year-olds compared to 5.8 hours for 17-year-olds.
