The American Psychological Association suggests that adolescents (typically 10–14 years) should receive adult supervision and limit-setting, with increasing autonomy as they develop digital literacy skills

The American Psychological Association (APA) has highlighted the importance of adult monitoring and coaching in adolescents’ use of social media to minimize potential psychological harm.

The Association suggests that adolescents (typically 10–14 years) should receive adult supervision and limit-setting, with increasing autonomy as they develop digital literacy skills.

In its health advisory on social media use in adolescence issued on Tuesday, the APA aims to help teenagers, parents, teachers, and policymakers to better navigate the digital landscape.

The advisory comes at a time when there is mounting evidence that teenagers are facing high rates of depression, anxiety, and loneliness, and social media can exacerbate and even cause these problems.

The APA report compiles the latest scientific findings on social media and provides actionable advice to help parents and policymakers navigate this complex issue.

The 10 recommendations in the report summarize recent scientific findings and advise actions, primarily by parents, such as monitoring teens’ feeds and training them in social media literacy, even before they begin using these platforms.

The report also advises parents to talk to their children about social media and to encourage them to take breaks from their devices. It emphasizes the importance of balancing monitoring with youths’ appropriate needs for privacy, as well as parents’ own use of social media in youths’ presence, which can impact adolescents’ own social media use.

One significant finding is that exposure to “cyberhate,” such as discrimination, prejudice, hate, or cyberbullying, can lead to increased anxiety and depressive symptoms in adolescents, particularly those from marginalized groups. The report suggests that training adolescents to recognize online structural racism and critique racist messages can reduce psychological distress.

It also highlights the negative impact of using social media for social comparison related to physical appearance, which is related to poorer body image, disordered eating, and depressive symptoms, particularly among girls. The researchers suggest that adolescents should receive training in social media literacy to develop psychologically-informed competencies and skills that will promote safe and meaningful social media use.

The report calls for more research in the area of digital citizenship and digital literacy to increase positive interactions online. Additional competencies could include understanding the tactics used to spread mis- and disinformation, limiting overgeneralization and misestimation errors, and recognizing signs of problematic social media use.

The APA recommends that policymakers invest in research to better understand the impact of social media on teenagers’ mental health and to develop evidence-based interventions.

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