The Science or Fiction Podcast
The Science or Fiction Podcast
Does social media use damage young people's mental health?
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Does social media use damage young people's mental health?

with Luisa Fassi (PhD candidate, University of Cambridge)

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The relationship between social media use and mental health is complex, and not as well understood as we might hope.

In our very first episode, Dr. Kathryn Bates interviews PhD candidate and social media and mental health expert, Luisa Fassi, to get to grips with the evidence. Luisa explains that much of the controversy comes from the difficulty in trying to simplify such a broad question, and talks us through some of the research findings to explain the evidence.

Journal article we discussed:

Trajectories of adolescent life satisfaction” https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full/10.1098/rsos.211808

Luisa’s recommendation:

This research review provides an overview of the evidence:

“Adolescent Mental Health in the Digital Age: Facts, Fears and Future Directions” https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8221420/

Help and support:

If you are affected by any of the issues discussed in the episode, you can access support via the following links:

Mix Charity helplines: https://www.themix.org.uk/get-support

Mind Charity contacts: https://www.mind.org.uk/information-support/for-children-and-young-people/useful-contacts/

Samaritans contact information: https://www.samaritans.org/how-we-can-help/contact-samaritan/


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The Science or Fiction Podcast
The Science or Fiction Podcast
We interview researchers to separate the science from the fiction in news headlines. Catch new episodes on the first Monday of the month.