The Impacts of Problematic Social Media Use on Youths: Evaluation and Treatment Recommendations

<p>Youths’ frequency and time spent on social media continues to increase over the years parallel to the growing concern of the status of the mental health of youth. This critical literature review project focuses on the impacts that social media use has on youth (ages 8 to 18 years) and what methods of evaluation and treatment are being used clinically, with recommendations provided to clinicians based on the available literature. The questions that guided this review included: What are the impacts of social media on the self-concept and interpersonal functioning of youths?; What clinical presentations are associated with youths who exhibit problematic social media use?; and What clinical approaches are being used to evaluate and treat problematic social media use in youths? Both positive and negative impacts have been associated with social media use. However, there are different factors that contribute to how youth are affected by their social media use. There is no conceptual model available to diagnose problematic social media use that includes the broad range of impacts observed. Evaluations and treatment options available in the literature tend to focus on issues related to addiction. Findings and recommendations useful for clinicians working with youth with problematic social media use, including how to assess social media use and areas known to be negatively impacted are included.</p>

Name thesis:degree_name

Psy.D. Doctor of Clinical Psychology

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation - Public Access

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Clinical Psychology

Year dc:date.available

2022

Author dc:creator

• Archer, Carianne

Contributors dc:contributor

• Lisa Costas, Ph.D.
• Sharie Fabregas, Psy.D.

• Social Media
• Youth
• self-concept
• interpersonal
• mental health
• evaluation
• treatment
• Child Psychology

Repository record dc:identifier

https://digitalcommons.nl.edu/diss/664

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:digitalcommons.nl.edu:diss-1716