This is the second of three parts summarizing Verdant Community Wellness Day presentations. You can read the first story, on addressing domestic violence among West African women, here.

Social media and other digital media are often blamed for poor mental health among youths, but a University of Washington researcher proposed that having a “balanced media diet” can be healthy and attainable. 

“It’s quality over quantity,” Ph.D. student Daniela Muñoz Lopez said in her presentation at Verdant Health Commission’s Community Wellness Day March 9. 

Lopez showed the audience two food pictures: one of a typical American fast-food meal with a burger, fries and soda, and the other with a variety of food from all major food groups. “Both of these show 2,000 calories worth of food,” she said. “Which do you think would be better for your health and well-being? We’d like to think about social media usage and time spent online in a similar way. You can spend 200 minutes passively scrolling, not really engaging with content, or you can spend 200 minutes actively engaging on social media: creating, learning or having social interactions.”

Such positive online interactions include family video calls, activities that promote digital and creative skills, listening to educational podcasts and audiobooks, and learning to play music. This would be analogous to having fruits, vegetables and whole grains as the foundation of a healthier diet.

Lopez suggested that parents should allow moderate usage of movies and “positive TV shows” while limiting YouTube, social media, violent video games, screen usage during family meals and family time, and before sleep.

“We also think it’s really important to set adolescents boundaries and limits to using technologies so social media doesn’t interfere with sleep, exercise, homework and personal interactions,” she said. Parents can create a planner that organizes screen time, much like families in previous generations set limits on TV, radio and even reading time.

Lopez said that the age most vulnerable to mental health disorders is around 15, based on a 2021 study that pooled data from more than 708,500 people in 192 studies. These disorders include anorexia, obsessive-compulsive related disorder, binge eating, bipolar disorder, depression, schizophrenia and alcohol abuse. 

Adolescence is a period of rapid transitions, from biological changes in body and brain development to social and psychological changes. These include transitioning from middle school to high school, looking for self-identity and autonomy, and experiencing a time of “firsts” – road trips, friendship transformations, graduation, winning or losing at a sport, breakups and fights.

To help lower the risk of mental health problems and increase positive experiences with social and digital media, Lopez recommended:

1. Adults should monitor most of their childrens’ social media use, building autonomy gradually as they age and learn digital media literacy skills. Be mindful that this should be balanced with the childrens’ need for privacy, and they should be aware that monitoring is happening and why.
2. To reduce the risk of psychological harm, adolescents’ exposure to “maladaptive content on social media” should be reported, minimized and removed. Technology should not drive users to this content.
3. Encouraging young people to use social media platforms that foster social support, online companionship and emotional intimacy can contribute to promoting healthy social interactions.
4. Minimize adolescents’ exposure to “cyberhate,” such as online discrimination, hate and cyberbullying. Explore how they can use their voices to stand up against hate speech online.
5. Screen adolescents for signs of problematic social media use
6. Minimize use of social media for social comparison, such as beauty- and appearance-related content.
7. Adolescents should learn social media literacy to maximize chances for a safer and a more balanced and meaningful social media use.

“The benefits will not materialize without equitable access and social media literacy,” Lopez said. “From parents to schools, this is very crucial and also we want to make sure that the apps are age-appropriate, designs that are simple yet playful.”

Lopez recommended digital citizenship via Common Sense Education to help teens develop a healthier social and digital media habit. Digital citizenship refers to the responsible and ethical use of technology, particularly the Internet and social media. Common Sense includes an online curriculum that includes online privacy and security, media balance, digital footprints, cyberbullying and hate speech and media literacy. These courses are customized from kindergarten to 12th grade.

Another resource is Social Media Test Drive, which allows children and teens to simulate how they interact and reflect on their social media experience. There will be a Spanish version of this website in the near future.

“I really recommend this to anyone who has adolescents in their life who are interested in learning to navigate in these spaces,” Lopez said.

Lopez said she and her colleagues are planning to conduct a study on the reasons why parents allow their children to use social media. “We are about to start a five-year study that’s going to be looking at this relationship in more detail, and we’re hoping to get parents and youths to participate in this study. Hopefully, we’ll get more input from parents,” she said.

“We’re really interested in building community and having all of your voices be heard in the research that we’re doing,” she continued. “We’re always asking people to participate in our studies.” 

Those interested in participating can email Daniela Muñoz Lopez at dannml@uw.edu.

For more information about social media usage for teens:

American Psychological Association

Human Screenome Project

Next: Part three of Verdant Health Commission’s Community Health Day, will focus on taking charge of your wellness journey.

— Story and photos by Nick Ng