Social Media and Teen Mental Health with Vicky Rideout | By: Committee for Children Stitcher Apple Podcasts RSS Show Notes On this episode, host Tia Kim speaks with Vicky Rideout, one of the authors of a new report, “Coping with COVID-19: How Young People Use Digital Media to Manage Their Mental Health.” The report found substantial increases in both depression and social media use among teens and young adults during the COVID-19 pandemic. Further, it investigated the relationship between those two data points. Could social media be causing the rise in depression? The report suggested that, despite the common media narrative about the dangers of social media, it can be a valuable tool for connection and its effects can be both supportive and uplifting for kids. In this conversation, Vicky and Tia explore the implications of these findings and if they should change how we think about young people’s digital media use. “It’s really powerful to understand how eager young people are to lift one another up and support one another, whether it’s online or face-to-face,” Vicky says. Read more about some of the other studies mentioned in the episode: “Digital Health Practices, Social Media Use, and Mental Well-Being Among Teens and Young Adults in the U.S.” “Social Media, Social Life: Teens Reveal Their Experiences, 2018” Visit GrowKinderPodcast.org for more episodes of the Grow Kinder® podcast. You can rate and follow us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, SoundCloud, or Stitcher. Take our listener survey to let us know more about you and what you think of the podcast. We’d love to hear from you!