Social Media Use and Mental Health in Adolescents and Young Adults: A Critical Review of Recent Evidence

Abstract

Social media is embedded in the everyday lives of adolescents and young adults, prompting sustained research into its relationship with mental health. This critical narrative review examines evidence on depressive and anxiety symptoms, loneliness, cyberbullying, social comparison, and the potential benefits of online social support. It synthesizes the studies and reviews cited in the source manuscript, with particular attention to systematic reviews, meta-analyses, and umbrella reviews. No reproducible database search or formal risk-of-bias assessment was documented for this version; the findings should therefore be read as a selective narrative synthesis rather than an exhaustive systematic review. Across the cited evidence, general social media use is associated with small and variable mental-health differences, whereas problematic or compulsive use shows more consistent associations with depressive and anxiety symptoms and sleep difficulties. Online experiences may also provide belonging, peer support, and access to mental-health information. Effects vary with the pattern and purpose of use, individual vulnerability, and social context. Most findings are observational and do not establish that social media use causes mental-health conditions. Transparent review methods and stronger longitudinal and culturally diverse research are needed