Date of Award
7-22-2022
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Arts in Education
Department
Education
Program
Educational Leadership
Capstone Instructor
Sharon Meyerring
Second Reader
Oluwatoyin Akinde Fakuajo
Keywords
Mental Health, Social Media, Adolescents, Comparison, Self-Image, Anxiety
Abstract
Social media is more available now than ever before. More platforms are available and access to each platform is just one click away for anyone with a cell phone, tablet, iPad, or computer. Since social media was introduced, there has also been a steady rise in mental health concerns, especially in adolescents (Ellis et al., 2020). This leads to the question, how does social media impact mental health of adolescents? The potential implications of this question impact both educators, parents, and adolescents. This literature review examined how the rise in social media use has impacted mental health of adolescents, both positively and negatively, and the factors that potentially play a role in how mental health is impacted. After reviewing the fifteen peer-reviewed studies, it was shown that the increased use social media negatively impacts mental health of adolescents today.
Keywords: adolescents, mental health, social media