American Academy of Pediatrics Responds to U.S. Surgeon General’s Advisory on Youth Use of Social Media and Mental Health

The AAP Center of Excellence on Social Media and Youth Mental Health introduces a new online resource for families, pediatricians and other clinicians, educators, and policymakers

Today, U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy issued an advisory on social media and youth mental health.

AAP President Sandy Chung, MD, FAAP, was quoted in the Surgeon General’s press release:

“Today’s children and teens do not know a world without digital technology, but the digital world wasn’t built with children’s healthy mental development in mind. We need an approach to help children both on and offline that meets each child where they are while also working to make the digital spaces they inhabit safer and healthier.

“The Surgeon General’s Advisory calls for just that approach. The American Academy of Pediatrics looks forward to working with the Surgeon General and other federal leaders through our Center of Excellence on Youth Mental Health and Social Media on this important work.”

The American Academy of Pediatrics, with funding from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), has formed the AAP Center of Excellence on Social Media and Youth Mental Health, an online resource for families, pediatricians and other clinicians, educators, and policymakers. The Center aims to make the digital world a better place for children and teens by supporting families, changing the media narrative, influencing better research, and guiding policy priorities.

• The Center has published questions and answers they have received so far on social media and youth mental health, answered by expert staff and its co-medical directors. The questions range in topic from school policies on digital devices to how to support young children’s behavior related to digital media to how to support teens expressing body image concerns. The question and response portal is searchable by age and includes all previously asked questions and responses made to date. Families, educators, clinicians and other stakeholders can continue submit questions via the question submission form.
• Co-medical directors Jenny Radesky, MD, FAAP, and Megan Moreno, MD, MPH, MSEd, FAAP, also published videos for parents: one on teen social media use and mental health and one on how parents can start a conversation with their children and teens about their social media use.
• Dr. Moreno and Dr. Radesky published an article today in the Journal of Adolescent Health titled “Putting Forward a New Narrative Toward Adolescent Media: The American Academy of Pediatrics Center of Excellence on Social Media and Youth Mental Health.”

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The American Academy of Pediatrics is an organization of 67,000 primary care pediatricians, pediatric medical subspecialists and pediatric surgical specialists dedicated to the health, safety and well-being of infants, children, adolescents and young adults.