Annotated Bibliography

Cabezas-Klinger, H., Fernandez-Daza, F. F., & Mina-Paz, Y. (2025). Associations Between Social Media Use and Mental Disorders in Adolescents and Young Adults: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Recent Evidence. Behavioral Sciences (2076-328X), 15(11), 1450. https://doi.org/10.3390/bs15111450Cabezas-Klinger et al. (2025) examine the literature and metadata on social media’s mental health impacts on teens and young adults. A consistent observation across the 24 studies reviewed shows that increased mental health risk accompanies participation in a variety of social networks. This is emphasized by the finding that 40 percent of teens who died by suicide in populations covered in the study had exhibited suicidal thoughts and tendencies in online communications (Cabezas-Klinger et al., 2025, p. 5). This research is directly relevant to the targeted area of mental health impacts of teen social media usage. The source is peer-reviewed and published in a credible journal, so there are no concerns about validity.

Harrison, V., Collier, C., & Adelshiem S. (2024). Social Media and Youth Mental Health. American Psychiatric Association Publishing. Harrison et al. (2024) explore numerous concerns regarding social media’s impact on teen mental health. Chapters by a collection of experts focus on memory effects, identity concerns, privacy, misinformation, and self-harm. The editors express concerns that legal protection for teenagers online seems to be approximately two decades behind the technology, requiring their research to advocate for policy change and protection. The book begins by establishing the pervasiveness of social media in modern life, then explores the impacts of social media through a variety of lenses. While the book generally focuses on potentially negative outcomes, space is held for the potential to use social media and digital communication in a positive light, noting the potential for interventions and therapeutic services. The book is published by the APA, which is the preeminent psychological research association in the U.S., contributing to its credibility. There are no significant concerns about bias or skew.

Kruzan, K. P., Williams, K. D. A., Meyerhoff, J., Yoo, D. W., O’Dwyer, L. C., De Choudhury, M., & Mohr, D. C. (2022). Social media-based interventions for adolescent and young adult mental health: A scoping review. Internet Interventions, 30. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.invent.2022.100578 In this article, Kruzan et al. (2022) explore the use of social media for mental health interventions among adolescents. This is seen as a significant public health outreach due to the lack of mental health services available to adolescents in many underserved areas. The study demonstrated clear improvements in mental health outcomes among adolescents and young adults resulting from these social media interventions. In an era where social media is often attributed as a detriment to adolescent social health, this study demonstrates an area where social media may benefit mental health instead. This study is published in a peer-reviewed journal and is generally credible. However, its shared sample of both adolescents and young adults may provide results that are not specifically aligned with the targeted research topic of social media effects on adolescent mental health. Additionally, the nature of the publication specifically explores using technology platforms for interventions, calling into question whether the results are the most effective method of intervention.

Medruţ, F.-P. (2021). The Impact of Social Media Use on Adolescent Mental Health – Depression and Anxiety: A Review. Social Work Review / Revista de Asistenţă Socială, 2, 163–172. Medrut (2021) acknowledges both the rising use of social media and the accompanying rise in youth mental health concerns, particularly depression. She then seeks to determine if these changes are correlational or causational. She documents the changing social media environment as users migrated from early platforms like Facebook to more favored environments such as Twitter/X. Additionally, she examines the concern about screen addiction. Her literature review documents the accompanying rise of depression and device usage, noting that the accompanying lack of sleep seen from screen addiction could be a significant contributory factor in increased depression levels. Specifically, she refers to social media as a “drug” and conclusively states that social media has negative impacts on teen mental health. While these conclusions are clear and supported by publication in a peer-reviewed source, the writer’s agenda is evident, raising concerns about objectivity.

Nayak, A., & Fatma, E. (2025). Examining the Public Health Impacts of Social Media on Youth Mental Health. TPM: Testing, Psychometrics, Methodology in Applied Psychology, 32, 992–997. Nayak and Fatma (2025) explored the impact of teen social media use on mental health. Specifically, they identify links between existing research on the use of cell phones and accompanying sleep deprivation and emerging research on the social media usage that is enabled by those phones. Both research fields demonstrate a link between increased phone and social media usage and adverse teen mental health outcomes. There is also evidence that demonstrates teen academic performance is harmed by increased social media usage. While social media use was a potential risk factor, protective factors limiting the adverse mental health outcomes included psychological support, social relationships, and spirituality. The source is published in a peer-reviewed journal, demonstrating credibility.

Orben, A., Meier, A., Dalgleish, T., & Blakemore, S.-J. (2024). Mechanisms linking social media use to adolescent mental health vulnerability. Nature Reviews Psychology, 3(6), 407–423. https://doi.org/10.1038/s44159-024-00307-y Orben et al. (2024) examine developmental factors that make teens particularly vulnerable to the impact of social media. Social media provides a venue for teenagers to engage in risky behaviors, such as sharing personal information, that would have previously been done in a more limited setting, such as a friend group. The worldwide reach of social media increased the risk factors for wide-ranging consequences for what has long been considered “typical” teenage behavior. The literature review focuses on the intersection between typical teen development and the potential consequences of the availability of social media platforms. While limited in scope, this peer-reviewed source presents credible information.

Zalewska, A., Gądek, K., Lichodij, A., Hariasz, W., Michałek, M., Drobik, M., & Kozieł, M. (2025). The influence of social media and digital technologies on adolescent mental health - A literature review. Annales Academiae Medicae Silesiensis, 79, 296–301. https://doi.org/10.18794/aams/207724 Zalewska et al. (2025) examine the relationship between social media use and mental health concerns in modern adolescents. Their literature review reveals clear concerns that social media contributes to issues such as sleep disruption, anxiety, and self-esteem concerns. The study also finds the potential for positive influence, since students may find community and connection online not available to them in their local region. The study urges caution regarding the known risks, but also implores readers to consider the potential positive impact. The source is published in a peer-reviewed publication, but is translated from Polish to English. This leads to concerns about precision in language.

Ziegel, L., Sjöland, C. F., Zuo, X., Fine, S. L., & Ekström, A. M. (2025). Adolescent Mental Health and Digital Communication: Perspectives From 11 Countries. Journal of Adolescent Health, 77(3), 405–412. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2024.02.037 Ziegel et al. (2025) conducted focus groups with participants ages 12-19 in 13 countries during the first half of 2021. Their data included spontaneous connections between mental health concerns and digital communication in 11 of the 13 conversations. The teens were aware of both benefits and detriments of online communication, citing concerns about bullying and harassment, but also the availability of mental health supports and community when these were not widely available due to pandemic restrictions. The study is peer-reviewed and includes standard methodology. However, the focus on teen perspectives limits the application of the research to a larger research, since the reported effects are filtered through teenage lenses.