I do agree that living with troubled parents is a massive predictor of future mental health and substance use problems in teens. I don't however think it is a zero sum game to throw out social media just because there is another explanation. I think it is a combination of all of this. Social media is directly responsible for faulty comparisons, which afflict females more than males. No one is questioning that. Combine that with the data presented here and we have a disaster. But to ignore either as a valid contributor, I think, is irresponsible. Haidt and Twenge are on to something, along with the data here.
Thanks for comment. I've always pointed out that consensus of research shows the for 5-10% of teens and adults, social media use appears to exacerbate their problems -- mainly those elsewhere in their lives, but also those associated with unhealthy social media use itself. Much of this connection may be a "reverse correlation" (troubled youth use social media more to seek connections and help). Please see:
That is, social media has a problem usage level similar to dozens of other things in society (schools, sports, consumerism, dating, etc.). Comparing family influences versus social media influences on mental health is like comparing a giant apple with a tiny orange. Haidt and Twenge have so vastly overstated their case with increasingly bad information that they are now detriments to reasoned discussion of mental health issues:
These are one-off events but I was shocked to see two suicides in the news recently, both 11-year-old girls. One was in TX, she was apparently being bullied for her immigration status. The other was a white family, do not remember which state, but it made national news, too. I just was baffled that girls this young would know *how* to do this, as it’s not that easy (I have a family member who tried repeatedly). I do worry it is the phones/internet that not only increase the ease of bullying/taunting, but also access to information on how to attempt suicide. And I’d be very curious about the family factors, too. I think it’s all of it - internet, phones, a family’s broken mental health, systemic failures in mental health.
Two things I would recommend if you have time and access to the dataset:
1. Divide total hospitalizations by population, so we can see the hospitalization rate per capita. I know that in most states, the number of children is decreasing due to low fertility, so that's something to account for.
2. Another thing would be to use a log-scale so it's easier to see the rate of change for the two populations (adults and children).
I know I'm just nagging you to do extra work I could do myself if I dug into the data, but I really do appreciate your work! Thanks again!
I do agree that living with troubled parents is a massive predictor of future mental health and substance use problems in teens. I don't however think it is a zero sum game to throw out social media just because there is another explanation. I think it is a combination of all of this. Social media is directly responsible for faulty comparisons, which afflict females more than males. No one is questioning that. Combine that with the data presented here and we have a disaster. But to ignore either as a valid contributor, I think, is irresponsible. Haidt and Twenge are on to something, along with the data here.
Thanks for comment. I've always pointed out that consensus of research shows the for 5-10% of teens and adults, social media use appears to exacerbate their problems -- mainly those elsewhere in their lives, but also those associated with unhealthy social media use itself. Much of this connection may be a "reverse correlation" (troubled youth use social media more to seek connections and help). Please see:
https://mikemales.substack.com/p/researchers-agree-on-a-solid-consensus
That is, social media has a problem usage level similar to dozens of other things in society (schools, sports, consumerism, dating, etc.). Comparing family influences versus social media influences on mental health is like comparing a giant apple with a tiny orange. Haidt and Twenge have so vastly overstated their case with increasingly bad information that they are now detriments to reasoned discussion of mental health issues:
https://mikemales.substack.com/publish/posts/detail/156126041?referrer=%2Fpublish%2Fposts
https://mikemales.substack.com/publish/posts/detail/153382070?referrer=%2Fpublish%2Fposts
I'm citing my own postings because they contain links to dozens of studies documenting the case.
These are one-off events but I was shocked to see two suicides in the news recently, both 11-year-old girls. One was in TX, she was apparently being bullied for her immigration status. The other was a white family, do not remember which state, but it made national news, too. I just was baffled that girls this young would know *how* to do this, as it’s not that easy (I have a family member who tried repeatedly). I do worry it is the phones/internet that not only increase the ease of bullying/taunting, but also access to information on how to attempt suicide. And I’d be very curious about the family factors, too. I think it’s all of it - internet, phones, a family’s broken mental health, systemic failures in mental health.
Hey Mike, great article.
Two things I would recommend if you have time and access to the dataset:
1. Divide total hospitalizations by population, so we can see the hospitalization rate per capita. I know that in most states, the number of children is decreasing due to low fertility, so that's something to account for.
2. Another thing would be to use a log-scale so it's easier to see the rate of change for the two populations (adults and children).
I know I'm just nagging you to do extra work I could do myself if I dug into the data, but I really do appreciate your work! Thanks again!
Thank you for your kindness Mike - I would appreciate that.
It looks to me like all is deleted. Let me know if you still see it posted.
All gone thank you.