FRIDAY, March 13, 2026 (HealthDay News) — Digital media use is consistently associated with risks to the mental health and development of children and adolescents worldwide, according to a review published online March 9.JAMA Pediatrics.
Samantha Teague, Ph.D., from James Cook University in Townsville, Australia, and colleagues conducted a systematic review of the literature to examine the relationship between social media, video games, and other digital media 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-talk, problematic Internet use, and drug use (range: r = 0.09 to 0.21). There were also negative associations with lower academic achievement, self-efficacy, and less positive development (range: r = -0.14 to -0.07). There was an association between playing video games and higher aggression and externalizing behavior (r = 0.16 and r = 0.17, respectively) and higher attention/executive functioning (r = 0.10). Digital device use and texting/social media were associated with depression (range: r = 0.05 to 0.12). In early adolescence, associations between social media and depression were strong (β = 0.09). There were also stronger associations between recent years of social media exposure and substance use (β = 0.10).
“These findings are also consistent with the bioecological model of child development and emphasize the dynamic interaction between children and their environment, including digital contexts,” the authors wrote. “Policy and clinical responses must be developmentally informed and consider sensitive periods of brain development.”
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