Call for urgent longitudinal research into social media use

MPs have called for robust longitudinal research into the impact of social media on young people’s mental health as a matter of urgency.

In a joint report published on 18 March, the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Social Media and Young People’s Mental Health and Wellbeing, together with the Royal Society for Public Health, called on the government to prioritise spending on research in this area.

Priorities should include longitudinal research into understanding the impact of social media on young people’s mental health and wellbeing; research into whether the relationship between social media and mental health problems is one of cause or correlation; and research to define which design aspects of social media platforms are inherently detrimental to young people’s mental health and wellbeing.