CoChat
Sign Up
Cited by 53Impact of Technology on AdolescentsChild Development and Digital TechnologyChild and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development

Social media and adolescent psychosocial development: a systematic review

Open access
Senekal, Janine S, Ruth Groenewald, Gabriella, Wolfaardt, Lisa, Jansen, Cisca, Williams, Kayla·2023·South African Journal of Psychology
DOI 10.1177/00812463221119302
Open this paper in CoChat — free account

Abstract

Adolescents are noted to increasingly utilise social media for communication, and therefore, social media is where much of their psychosocial development takes place. The potential impact of social media on psychosocial development is complex and is an emerging field of research. A systematic review was conducted to investigate existing research relating to social media’s effects on psychosocial development. Good practice in systematic review reporting was followed, aligned to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses statement, and a team of five reviewers were involved in each stage of the review process to enhance objectivity and methodological rigour. The review included 20 studies, published between 2008 and 2019. The findings show a complex relationship between social media and adolescent psychosocial development. Social media was found to involve potential risks, in terms of excessive and problematic use, comparison, and cyberbullying. Social support, from both peers and parents, may buffer these negative impacts. Potential benefits of social media use include supporting identity development and the maintenance of existing peer relationships. Considering the growth of social media use, it is imperative to consider the development and provision of interventions and mental health care services to address the potential risks associated with increased social media use. Psychoeducation with adolescents and parents as to the risks, benefits, and constructive parental supervision of social media is also recommended. The review highlights the need for high-quality empirical research to further clarify the long-term impact of social media use, particularly within the South African context.

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1177/00812463221119302

Cites

33 of 33 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Recomputing p-values needs the paper’s full text.

Claims the paper makes

We couldn’t retrieve this paper’s full text, so its claims and self-check weren’t run. The registry and citation checks still apply.

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

  • Much existing research has focused on older adolescents or broad adolescent age ranges, often without distinguishing developmental differences across adolescence.

    “Importantly, much of the existing research has focused on older adolescents or broad adolescent age ranges, often without distinguishing developmental diferences across adolescence [17, 33].”

    From The Complex and Multifaceted Nature of Social Media: Perspectives From Young Adolescents, Parents and Experts (2026) · cites this paper as [33]

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

Research works printed but not linked: 1

  1. Smith M. R., 2015, 21st National Conference of the Psychological Society of South Africa

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Related

Authors
Senekal, J. S., Ruth Groenewald, G., Wolfaardt, L., Jansen, C., & Williams, K.
Affiliations
Department of Psychology, Cornerstone Institute, South Africa
Corresponding author
Senekal, Janine S
ORCID
Venue
South African Journal of Psychology
Publisher
SAGE Publications
Published
2022-08-24
Volume
53
Issue
2
Pages
157-171
ISSN
0081-2463 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1177/00812463221119302
OpenAlex
W4293225084
Cited by
53
References
32
Citations by year
2026: 16 · 2025: 16 · 2024: 17 · 2023: 3 · 2022: 1
FWCI
1.55
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
South African Journal of Psychology (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Impact of Technology on Adolescents
  • Social Sciences › Education › Child Development and Digital Technology
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development
Keywords
social media, adolescent psychosocial development, social media addiction, social comparison, cyberbullying, social support, peer relationships, identity construction, parental supervision, psychoeducation, adolescent mental health

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review