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Social media platforms, such as Facebook, Instagram and TikTok, are used daily by many adults and young people worldwide. Recently, these platforms have become the focus of numerous debates, with some governments considering or introducing legislation designed to restrict social media use among children and younger adolescents.

To support their proposed restrictions, some governments have cited studies suggesting that reducing social media use can improve mental health. Yet meta-analyses, which statistically combine the results of many studies, have produced mixed results, with reductions in social media use often yielding small, inconsistent or no detectable improvements in mental health and well-being.

Researchers at Stony Brook University Renaissance School of Medicine, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and other institutions recently reviewed 45 studies examining interventions to reduce social media use and their relevance to youth mental health.

Their paper, published in Communications Psychology, identifies widespread methodological limitations, highlighting the need for more reliable research assessing reductions or breaks in social media use.

"Clearly, social media can harm mental health, but we know very little about how or why this happens," John Torous, senior author of the paper, told Medical Xpress.

"Our recent review explored what we know about digital detoxes, which provide a clear view into what happens when we remove social media. Overall, we found that research quality is limited and that there is very little data on long-term outcomes.

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