Welcome to the Social Media and Youth Mental Health Q&A Portal! Here you can read our featured Q&A Portal questions, view available resources to help your patients build healthier digital habits and browse our library of previously submitted questions and responses to learn more about other topics.
Not finding what you're looking for? Feel free to submit your own question to our Center of Excellence team. Your question will receive an evidence-based response from our expert team and be added to our Q&A Portal library.
Read our featured Q&A Portal questions and responses
Question: What are some strategies for approaching technology use with neurodivergent youth?
Answer: Thank you for asking these important questions! Social media impacts each person differently, depending on their personality and how they use it. Read the rest of this answer here.
Social Media & Youth Mental Health Q&A Portal
|November 12, 2025
Question: My local community would like to start a class/learning session for preteens and young teenagers on social media, internet safety, and mental health. Do you all have any particular resources or suggested formatting for teaching basic classes? Our youth leaders have asked to lead these classes as well, so any recommendations would be much appreciated. Thank you in advance.
Answer: Thank you for this question and for your interest in holding classes for adolescents about social media use. This sounds like a wonderful resource to provide in your community! There are a wealth of free, evidence-based resources and curriculums available. We’ve described several below. Read the rest of this answer here.
Social Media & Youth Mental Health Q&A Portal
|April 21, 2025
Question: How can clinicians incorporate social media literacy into virtual mental health treatment plans for adolescents?
Answer: Telemental health care encounters are an important opportunity for helping adolescents with mental health conditions develop a healthy relationship with social media. Read the rest of this answer here.
Social Media & Youth Mental Health Q&A Portal
|December 3, 2025
Many states, school districts, and individual schools will be implementing new phone policies in the coming year, and pediatric clinicians may be asked to contribute to discussions. Here, the AAP Center of Excellence on Social Media and Youth Mental Health offers a few tips based on our review of the research and what we have heard from teachers and students.
Pediatricians and providers often need quick, simple ways to discuss digital media with families. To help, we developed The 5 Cs of Media Use. The 5 Cs are designed to meet kids, teens and parents where they are, build insight and communication skills, and motivate for healthy behavior change.
Browse our library of all previously submitted questions here. Check back often as we add new questions regularly.
Don't see what you are looking for? Submit your own question below. Your answer will then be added to the Q&A Portal library to help others with similar questions.
Use these resources to help develop healthy digital habits
Help the families in your care build healthy digital habits with this handout that includes research-based tips that can make a big difference. Also available in Spanish.
Media is everywhere and managing it all can be tough. The AAP Family Media Plan is a great resource you can share with the families in your practice to help them set media priorities that matter most to them.
Funding for the Center of Excellence was made possible by Grant No. SM087180 from SAMHSA of the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The contents are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official views of, nor an endorsement by, SAMHSA/HHS or the US Government.
02/22/2024
American Academy of Pediatrics
