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BRIEF RESEARCH REPORT article
Front. Psychiatry
Sec. Adolescent and Young Adult Psychiatry
Volume 16 - 2025 |
doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2025.1484456
Perspectives of Clinicians on the Potential Impact of Social Media on Social and Emotional Wellbeing, Training Needs, and Screening Recommendations: A Preliminary Examination
Provisionally accepted- 1 University at Albany, Albany, United States
- 2 The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, United States
- 3 Pine Rest Christian Mental Health Services, Grand Rapids, Michigan, United States
- 4 Division of Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine, College of Human Medicine, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, United States
- 5 College of Human Medicine, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, United States
- 6 Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, College of Human Medicine, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, United States
- 7 Center for Statistical Consultation and Research, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, United States
Introduction: Social media is integral to adolescents' lives, with the separation between adolescents' online and offline worlds harder to distinguish. Adolescent development occurs online via the opportunity to connect with others and explore themselves. Despite the potential for benefits, some adolescents with underlying mental health conditions are at risk for stressful online experiences, such as cyberbullying. The complexity of the impact of social media on adolescents necessitates an understanding of mental health providers' perspectives on their observations of youth treated, how they support youth in navigating social media, and suggestions for clinical and research priorities to address barriers encountered in developing resilient and prosocial interactions online. The purpose of this qualitative study was to understand these perspectives in stakeholders across mental health-related disciplines. Methods: In Fall 2022 to Spring 2023, 14 participants were interviewed regarding their perspectives on social media and mental health, how they screen for harmful experiences online, and their approach to supporting youth who have experienced online stressors. We used an inductive thematic analysis to identify themes. Results: Themes reflected clinicians' perceptions of positive and negative impacts of social media on youth; how they communicate with youth about their experiences; preferences or recommendations for screening for harmful experiences; and barriers encountered in addressing use and impacts. Discussion: We outline recommendations for implementing screening for social media experiences, responding to harmful online experiences, and future clinical research directions to fill gaps in training and service provision related to adolescents' social media use.
Keywords: adolescents, Social Media, cyberbullying, Problematic media use, Sextortion
Received: 21 Aug 2024; Accepted: 04 Feb 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Domoff, Armstrong, Rollings, Mancuso and Janney. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Sarah E Domoff, University at Albany, Albany, United States
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