Why Three Studies by Vuorre and Przybylski Should Not Be Used to Assess the Impact of Social Media on Adolescent Mental Health

Abstract

The relationship between adolescent social media use and mental health is a topic of ongoing debate, and there is substantial diversity in the conclusions reached by researchers. In this commentary, we examine three articles by Matti Vuorre and Andrew Przybylski often cited as evidence that social media is not harmful to adolescents. We identify one conceptual issue (relying on blending together groups and technologies while dismissing consistent evidence of harms when those groups and technologies are unblended) and three methodological issues (e.g., Meta’s involvement in the research design of one study) that reduce their relevance to questions about social media’s effects on adolescent mental health. Suggestions for better approaches to studying such effects are provided.