The DOI matches its Crossref record; 58 of the 58 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Smartphones, social media use and youth mental health
Open accessAbstract
KEY POINTS In the last decade, increasing mental distress and treatment for mental health conditions among youth in North America has paralleled a steep rise in the use of smartphones and social media by children and adolescents. In Ontario, the proportion of teenagers reporting moderate to serious
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“In addition, several reviews used a broad and sometimes even boundless (operational) definition of mental health, which led to the inclusion of a multitude of outcomes, including marihuana use, identity development, social support, (cyber)bullying, and/or academic performance [22,23,27,30].”
From Social media use and its impact on adolescent mental health: An umbrella review of the evidence. (2022) · cites this paper as [30]
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredThe source backs part of the claim, not all of it — or backs it for a different population, condition or comparison.
In the citing paper
“However, some reviews were less nuanced in their conclusions and used qualifications of the effect sizes such as 'substantial,' 'detrimental,' and 'deleterious' [25,30,38].”
From Social media use and its impact on adolescent mental health: An umbrella review of the evidence. (2022) · cites this paper as [30]
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredThe source backs part of the claim, not all of it — or backs it for a different population, condition or comparison.
In the citing paper
“Results showed that most reviews interpreted the associations between social media use and mental health as 'weak' or 'inconsistent,' whereas a few qualified the same associations as 'substantial' and 'deleterious.'”
From Social media use and its impact on adolescent mental health: An umbrella review of the evidence. (2022) · cites this paper as [30]
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredThe source backs part of the claim, not all of it — or backs it for a different population, condition or comparison.
In the citing paper
“Although the majority of the reviews concluded that the reported associations of SMU with mental health were small to moderate, some others interpreted these associations as serious [30], substantial [48] or detrimental [25].”
From Social media use and its impact on adolescent mental health: An umbrella review of the evidence. (2022) · cites this paper as [30]
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredThe source backs part of the claim, not all of it — or backs it for a different population, condition or comparison.
In the citing paper
“Los datos confirman un consumo adictivo del teléfono móvil en los jóvenes ( Han ; Kim , 2019; Rather ; Rather , 2019; Abi-Jaoude , Treurnicht-Naylor ; Pignatiello , 2020) que conduce a diversas patologías.”
From Redes sociales y consumo digital en jóvenes universitarios: economía de la atención y oligopolios de la comunicación en el siglo XXI (2020) · cites this paper as Abi-Jaoude, Treurnicht-Naylor; Pignatiello, 2020
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In the citing paper
“For example, time spent on SNS is associated with higher levels of depression [17], whereas emotional connectedness to SNS ('intensity of use') [15] and the number of friends on SNS [16] are unrelated to depression.”
From Social media use and its impact on adolescent mental health: An umbrella review of the evidence. (2022) · cites this paper as [16]
In the citing paper
“However, recent studies have shown that the intensity of online activity is negatively associated with subjective well-being (37).”
From Effects of Short Video Addiction on the Motivation and Well-Being of Chinese Vocational College Students (2022) · cites this paper as [37]
In the citing paper
“and that the subjective well-being of individuals who use online activities intensely may be affected (7, 37).”
From Effects of Short Video Addiction on the Motivation and Well-Being of Chinese Vocational College Students (2022) · cites this paper as [37]
In the citing paper
“Several studies have found that addiction may negatively affect users' wellbeing”
From Effects of Short Video Addiction on the Motivation and Well-Being of Chinese Vocational College Students (2022) · cites this paper as [37]
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Citations
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Flagged first, then by citations
Research works printed but not linked: 3
- [20]20. Basen I. You can't stop checking your phone because Silicon Valley designed it that way. CBC Radio 2018 Sept. 14. Available: www.cbc.ca/radio/thesundayedition /the-sunday-edition-september-16-2018-1.4822353/you-can-t-stop-checking-your -phone-because-silicon-valley-designed-it-that-way-1.4822360 (accessed 2019 Apr. 10).
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“Abi-Jaoude et al. 12 highlighted that smartphones and social media use have both beneficial and harmful effects on youth mental health, including increased anxiety, depression, and exposure to harmful content, suggesting the importance of moderation and guidance.”
Singh, V. P. K., Verma, P. M., & Singh, L. (2026) · Journal of Indian System of Medicine · doi:10.5005/jism-11051-0032
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Nardo, M. D., Verrocchio, M. C., D’Ettorre, M., Benedetto, S. D., Casale, S., Porcelli, P., & Marchetti, D. (2026) · International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction · doi:10.1007/s11469-026-01689-1
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“The increased use of social media also contributes to mental illness, self-harm, and suicidality among emerging adults [10,11].”
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Metadata
- Authors
- Abi-Jaoude, E., Naylor, K. T., & Pignatiello, A.
- Affiliations
- University Health Network (CA)
- Venue
- Canadian Medical Association Journal
- Publisher
- CMA Impact Inc.
- Published
- 2020-02-09
- Volume
- 192
- Issue
- 6
- Pages
- E136-E141
- ISSN
- 0820-3946 (ISSN-L)
- 1488-2329
- PMC
- PMC7012622
- OpenAlex
- W3005199011
- Cited by
- 627
- References
- 58
- Citations by year
- 2026: 57 · 2025: 127 · 2024: 149 · 2023: 149 · 2022: 79 · 2021: 51 · 2020: 15
- FWCI
- 12.92
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Locations
- Canadian Medical Association Journal (publishedVersion)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- University of Toronto
- 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
- smartphones, social media use, youth mental health, adolescents, psychological distress, psychotherapy
- MeSH terms
- Smartphone, Adolescent, Mental Disorders, Child, Humans, Mental Health, Social Media
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