Media Briefing: Social Media & Mental Health
•February 26, 2026
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Why It Matters
Understanding the nuanced impact of social media informs public‑health strategies, parental guidance, and policy decisions that can mitigate mental‑health risks while preserving digital benefits.
Key Takeaways
- •Teens' social media use hit all-time high, 95% engaged.
- •Heavy usage linked to sleep disruption, attention problems, addiction.
- •Impacts vary; some youths experience positive mental health outcomes.
- •Reducing social media for a week improves mental health metrics.
- •Parents should prioritize in‑person activities and quality over quantity.
Summary
The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health hosted a media briefing on the evolving relationship between digital media, especially social media, and mental health. Moderated by Ellen Wilson, professors Tamar Mendelson and Johannes Thrul presented the latest research on youth screen time, its benefits, and its risks.
Mendelson highlighted that 95% of teens and nearly 40% of children under 13 are active on social platforms, with a 17% increase in screen use during the pandemic. While social media can foster connection, creativity, and access to mental‑health resources, it also exposes users to cyberbullying, disinformation, and unrealistic standards. Thrul emphasized three emerging findings: heavy use correlates with sleep disruption and attention fragmentation; effects are heterogeneous, ranging from strongly negative to positive depending on individual, context, and platform; and experimental reduction trials consistently show mental‑health improvements after a week or more of decreased use.
Notable remarks included Mendelson’s warning that teen brains lack fully developed prefrontal regulation, making them especially vulnerable, and Thrul’s reference to a Delphi consensus of over 120 researchers confirming sleep and attention harms. A 100‑day diary study revealed most adolescents experienced negative outcomes, yet some reported mixed or positive effects. Trials reducing social media use in young adults demonstrated measurable gains in well‑being, underscoring causality.
The briefing concluded that social media is not universally toxic but requires public‑health‑style interventions—akin to those for alcohol or tobacco—to achieve a “digital balance.” Parents are urged to promote in‑person activities, focus on the quality of online interactions, and employ privacy controls. Policymakers and educators must consider nuanced, evidence‑based guidelines as digital platforms continue to shape mental, physical, and social health across generations.
Original Description
The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health hosted a media briefing on February 26, 2026, to discuss the evolving role increased smartphone use and digital media play in well-being, including emerging mental and behavioral health impacts, and the growing conversation around a healthy digital balance.
As digital media – apps like Instagram, TikTok, and other popular smartphone platforms – become increasingly embedded in daily lives, experts are examining both the risks and opportunities associated with this shift. The briefing explored the science on social media use disorder and addiction, as well as evidence of links between social media and mental health harms among children, teens, and adults.
Topics discussed:
Smartphone and social media use disorder and addiction, including warning signs and risk factors.
The prevalence of digital media use and trends showing increasing rates of engagement.
Emerging use of AI and chatbots amongst youth, and its impacts on mental health.
Potential positive uses of digital media, including the delivery of evidence-based mental and behavioral health interventions users can take to reduce problematic digital media use.
The current state of the science on social media’s mental health impacts and how a “digital balance” framework could inform future public health guidelines.
Insights from:
Tamar Mendelson, PhD, a Bloomberg Professor of American Health and Director of the Center for Adolescent Health, with joint appointments in the Department of Mental Health and the Department of Population, Family, and Reproductive Health at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. She is also core faculty at the Bloomberg American Health Initiative. Her research focuses on strategies to promote mental health among adolescents in under-resourced urban communities.
Johannes Thrul, PhD, an associate professor in the Department of Mental Health at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. His work examines the behavioral and psychological aspects of social media use.
Links:
Tamar Mendelson
Johannes Thrul
Bloomberg American Health Initiative
Mental Health in the Scroll Age
Social media is fueling a public health crisis for children and teens. Experts say accountability is overdue.
Kids Turning to Chatbot Therapy
What's behind the ban on cell phones in K-12 schools?
Social Media and Youth Mental Health
Timestamps
0:00 Introduction
01:30 Positive and negative aspects of social media
3:16 What’s known about social media and mental health
6:30 What parents can do
9:28 Why teens are particularly vulnerable
10:10 How social media affects older adults
11:15 AI chatbot use
14:53 Social media use disorder
16:32 Addiction aspects of social media
19:40 Is it possible to train the algorithm to support mental health?
20:36 Smartphone bans in schools
22:14 Minimum age limits
23:50 Benefits and risks
25:14 Dangers of AI chatbots
27:15 How parents can help
27:56 Guardrails are needed for technology use
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