Social media as a tool to promote mental health among adolescents : a critical review

Social media has recently become a prominent feature of adolescents' lives, and this age group is becoming increasingly aware and, in some instances, reliant on the information shared across several social networking sites (SNS) daily. SNS are platforms that allow individuals, more specifically adolescents in this instance, to share and receive different types of information resulting in a nearly constant engagement on several SNS. Adolescence is marked by challenging biological, social, psychological, and environmental changes over a short time. Since adolescents are growing up in increasingly challenging environments, it becomes imperative to explore the effect that social media can have on their mental health. Although many studies perceive social media and its use as a threat to adolescent mental health, it could be argued that it could be used to promote mental health among this age group, given the right set of circumstances. This sentiment is echoed in that this is an avenue of inquiry that has not received much attention. The negative impacts of social media on adolescent mental health are often wildly overstated, while the possible benefits are often overlooked or not considered. A critical review was conducted to review the literature on this topic over the past ten years to provide a comprehensive account of how social media can be used to promote mental health among adolescents. Conducting a critical review study of this nature resulted in identifying gaps in existing scientific research regarding this topic. The selected sources of information allowed me to identify several ways social media could potentially be used along with the existing body of scientific research to promote mental health among adolescents. Various themes and subthemes emerged from this inquiry that allowed me to answer the research question posed at the beginning of this study: What conclusions can be drawn from the literature on using social media to promote mental health among adolescents? More specifically: How can social media be used to promote mental health among adolescents? The research study followed a qualitative critical review approach to appraise and synthesise literature to enable me to identify possible gaps in research that future studies could explore. Data for this critical review study were obtained from peer-reviewed studies published in English. After conducting the literature search and appraisal process, seven studies were included for further analysis and synthesis. Thematic analysis was used as the method of data analysis, and four main themes with several subthemes were identified. The four main themes included: enhancing communication and social connection (broadening social networks and increased social support); resources for educating the self and others; enriching adolescent development (social media as a space for identifying development and experimentation, self-perception articulation, and goal attainment and personal development); and benefits related to adolescent well-being (method of distraction and relaxation, reducing stress and enhancing coping, promoting help-seeking behaviour, and positive affect enhancement). This research provides a comprehensive synthesis of the data included for analysis and synthesis of how social media can be used to promote mental health among adolescents. Therefore, the findings of this critical review study can be used as a foundation to inform future studies regarding the beneficial properties of social media on mental health and the promotion thereof among the adolescent population nationally and internationally. In addition, it is hoped that this research study will create awareness among clinicians, including those in the mental health profession, about how social media could benefit mental health promotion. Lastly, more research related to this research topic is needed in the South African context.