Impacts of digital media use on children and young people's mental health and wellbeing: evidence review

Introduction

Digital media, including exposure to screens and use of online platforms, play a prominent role in the lives of today’s children and young people. While offering benefits such as social connection and opportunities for learning, digital activities and technologies can expose children and young people to harm, with implications for their mental health and wellbeing.

The risks associated with digital media are a concern for governments internationally. Online harm can have devastating consequences for individual young people and their families, as well as wider implications for population health (Hoertel et al., 2025). Global policy strategies to address potential harms include social media bans for young people, bans on the use of smartphones in schools, and national guidance on screen time (de Schaetzen et al., 2025). In Spring 2026 the UK Government Department for Science, Innovation & Technology ran a national consultation on measures to prepare children for the future in an age of rapid technological change. This was followed in June 2026 by the UK Government’s announcement of a ban on social media companies from providing their services to under-16s, due to commence in Spring 2027.

Public and academic debates surrounding the use of digital technologies are complex, and occur within shifting contexts as platforms and technologies continually evolve. This report reviews current evidence (2023-2026) on the impacts of digital media on children and young people’s mental health and wellbeing, as part of a Scottish Government commitment to develop the evidence base on this topic.

1.1 Policy context

Keeping children and young people safe online is a key priority for the Scottish Government. In January 2025 an Online Safety Taskforce was established to strengthen efforts to protect children and young people from online harms. The Taskforce has a clear vision that children and young people can learn, play and connect online in environments that are safe, supportive and free from harm.

In March 2026, the Online Safety Taskforce Action Plan was published to provide a coherent and accessible framework that brings together the Scottish Government’s key priorities on online safety. As part of a broader public health approach to online harm in Scotland, a key focus within the Action Plan is prevention. This includes equipping young people with skills and resilience to safely navigate online spaces.

The Action Plan includes a specific commitment to conduct a “review of research on the impact of digital media, including screen time and screen use, on children and young people’s wellbeing” (p11). Alongside views from children, young people and parents gathered through digital wellbeing surveys, this evidence review will inform the Scottish Government’s approach to positive digital behaviours and support implementation of the Action Plan.

1.2 Research landscape

Research on the impacts of digital media on children and young people is rich and constantly growing. Broadly, existing evidence demonstrates associations between increased digital media use and adverse effects on mental health and wellbeing amongst children and young people, however these associations can be small and inconsistent (Orben et al., 2026). While earlier research focused predominantly on screen time, more recent studies have distinguished between different types of digital media engagement, and examined how individual and contextual factors shape associations with mental health and wellbeing (Verduyn et al., 2017, Orben and Przybylski, 2019, Choukas-Bradley et al., 2023).

This report reviews recent research on this topic (2023-2026) to provide a critical overview of the current evidence landscape on potential harms associated with digital media, the mechanisms through which harm may occur, and which groups may be most affected. It builds on existing Scottish Government research in this area, providing up-to-date evidence to inform current policy needs.

1.2.1 Definitions

This report uses the term ‘digital media’ as an umbrella term encompassing social media use, use of other digital platforms and apps, screen time and screen use. These terms are defined below:

Digital media use: an umbrella term used in this review to describe engagement with screen-based technologies including educational technologies, gaming, social media and other online interactions.

Social media use: engagement with platforms accessible largely by smartphone that enable communication and sharing content. These can be text based (e.g. WhatsApp) or involve sharing of images, video and use of filters (e.g. Instagram).

Screen time: the amount of time spent using screen-based devices.

Screen use: exposure to screen-based devices and activities.

Active use (of digital media): activities involving user-led or two-way engagement with online platforms. This can include posting content, messaging, video-calling or participation in online communities (Tibbs et al., 2025).

Passive use (of digital media): activities centred on consumption of digital media such as viewing content or videos created by others (Tibbs et al., 2025).

Problematic use (of digital media): this refers to use that involves loss of control over usage, and symptoms associated with behavioural addiction (Marano et al., 2025).

Recent literature argues that similar concepts such as screen use and screen time should not be used interchangeably, because different types of activity may have different implications for mental health and wellbeing. Throughout this report, the form of digital media exposure examined by each study is specified wherever possible.

1.3 Methodology

Given the available timeframe, this review adopted a rapid evidence review approach. Rapid reviews streamline the review process, for example by limiting the scope of the topic or searches, using a single reviewer or excluding grey literature.

Adopting a rapid review approach, searches were conducted using a single search platform, the Scottish Government library Knowledge and Evidence (KandE) database. As described above, research on digital media use encompasses a wide range of concepts and definitions. While some studies focus on screen exposure and screen time, others examine digital and social media use. To ensure coverage of both bodies of evidence, two separate searches were conducted: one focused on screen time and screen use, and another focused on digital and social media use.

The search period was August 2023 – July 2026, and the two database searches resulted in 123 articles being taken forward for review. Further details on the search strategy can be found in Appendix I. Snowballing of reference lists and discussions with policy colleagues and stakeholders identified 18 sources, resulting in 141 sources overall.

Sources included evidence reviews, analyses of international datasets and empirical studies. The majority of included empirical studies were conducted in Europe (n=62), followed by North America (n=31), Australasia (n=7), Asia (n=5) and South America (n=1). This distribution is consistent with the review’s inclusion criteria, which prioritised studies from countries comparable to Scotland (see Appendix I).

Microsoft Copilot, an artificial intelligence (AI) tool, was used during the review process. All decisions regarding study inclusion, interpretation of findings and final conclusions were made by the reviewer, who also read and summarised all sources and authored the report. An AI use statement is presented in Appendix II.

1.3.1 Limitations

Use of a single search platform means it is possible that some relevant studies were not identified. Searches were restricted to peer-reviewed, English-language publications, which may have excluded relevant evidence, including grey literature and research published in other languages. The term ‘digital media’ is broad, and the evidence reviewed encompasses diverse technologies, forms of use and age groups. As such, the review considers both screen exposure in early childhood and social media engagement among adolescents and young adults. Though the review synthesises these topics, they entail different outcomes of interest and different research approaches.

The 2023-2026 search period means this review provides a snapshot of contemporary research and debate, rather than the full development of the evidence base on this topic. Screening, review and synthesis were carried out by a single reviewer, and the review did not directly incorporate voices of lived experience.

The evidence base itself has a number of methodological limitations, which are discussed further in this report. Much of the literature relies on cross-sectional study designs, limiting conclusions regarding causality. Studies also used a wide range of definitions and measures of digital media use, making direct comparisons difficult.

This review provides a timely synthesis of available evidence, but is not a comprehensive systematic review. Given the rapid review approach, which involved targeted searches and did not include use of a formal critical appraisal tool, findings should be considered alongside other relevant sources of evidence.