Each year, the National Federation of Families (NFF) celebrates Children’s Mental Health Action Week in May. This year’s theme, Beyond The Screen: Education, Prevention, and Connection, asks participants to explore the relationships between technology, family life, and youth mental health. This call to action and deeper consideration of vital human bonds, meaningful family connections, and bounded screen time are bellwethers.
Looking “beyond the screen” isn’t just a euphemism for taking a moment of pause to look up from your phone. It is a collective rallying point for families, caregivers, and youth to understand the urgency of youth becoming re-grounded in communities of care, under the protective umbrella of connection.
The Kennedy Forum continues its long-term commitment to identifying, evaluating, and finding solutions for the upstream causes of youth mental health issues that threaten the next generation’s ability to live full, long, happy lives. Currently, our organization is monitoring several emerging risks for further action. This May, it’s important to highlight declining sleep, increased loneliness and isolation, chronic stress, and excessive screen time, which can exacerbate mental health issues like anxiety, depression, and suicide attempts.
It goes without saying that sleep is an integral part of physical and mental health for everyone – children, youth and teens, and adults. According to Johns Hopkins Medicine pediatrician, Dr. Michael Crocetti, teens need 9 to 9.5 hours of sleep per night. That is 1 hour more than kids need at age 10. Why? Teenagers are entering a second stage of cognitive development; essentially, their brains are still developing. However, American youth are facing a sleep deprivation crisis. In 2021, 78% of U.S. high school students reported sleeping fewer than the recommended hours per night on school nights. That is a 69% increase from 2009. Important to note, this downward trend disproportionately impacted female students (81%) and 12th graders (83%). This sleep crisis is not occurring as a monolithic event. It is part of a broader set of social and environmental conditions that are undermining youth well-being, including rising levels of loneliness and isolation.
Shifting social dynamics and societal environments have led to a growing epidemic of increased loneliness and isolation. While the pandemic may have sprouted such feelings during social isolation, the experience continues to grow significantly. Gen Z reported feeling alone 73% of the time, sometimes or always, and the World Health Organization reported that between 17–21% of individuals aged 13–29-year-olds reported feeling lonely, with the highest rates among teenagers. Loneliness and isolation are major stressors for anxiety, depression, and substance use. Over time, these social stressors can compound and contribute to more persistent forms of stress that affect young people’s mental, emotional, and physical well-being.
Chronic stress in youth is defined as stress that persists for an extended time and is compounded by Adverse Childhood Experiences, like chronic exposure to poverty, substance abuse, violence, discrimination, or bullying. It can disrupt the brain, organ systems, impair learning, memory, and emotional regulation. It can also lead to lifelong mental and physical health issues. According to a study by JAMA Pediatrics, between 2016 and 2020, the number of children aged 3 to 17 diagnosed with anxiety grew by 29% and those with depression by 27%. As a catalyst, chronic stress creates a vicious cycle that can lead to structural and chemical changes in the brain that promote the development of anxiety and depression. These neurological effects are intensified by technological environments that keep young people in a near-constant state of stimulation, comparison, and emotional activation.
Of all the emerging risks discussed, none may have a more overwhelming impact on youth than the addictive nature of social media and excessive screen time. A recent meta-analysis indicated that approximately 24.4% of adolescents meet the criteria for social media addiction. The Impact of Social Media & Technology on Child and Adolescent Mental Health stated, “This compulsive engagement with digital platforms has been associated with increased symptoms of anxiety, depression, and attention disorders, raising concerns about the long-term consequences of excessive screen time.”
Teen brains are neurologically wired for addiction to social media. Brad Zicherman, a child and adolescent addiction psychiatrist at Stanford University, likens the allure of social media to that of slot machines. In an interview with ScienceNews, he describes the allure: “You pull the slot machine lever. You don’t know what you’re going to win. You don’t know when you’re going to win. Eventually, you do win something. And then you do it again,” Zicherman says. “You keep getting those rushes of dopamine the entire time. That’s exactly how social media works.” While adults can also get hooked on social media, teens’ “faulty brake lines” make them more vulnerable to its addictive qualities. By “faulty brake lines,” Zicherman refers to the prefrontal cortex, which puts the brakes on the brain’s dopamine-releasing reward center, and doesn’t fully develop until age 25.
The tentacles of social media addiction are the connective tissue that seep into sleep issues, loneliness and isolation, and even exacerbate chronic stress. These emerging risks and stressors have led to increased anxiety, depression, and suicide attempts in youth.
The Kennedy Forum believes the nation must respond with a comprehensive youth mental health strategy that addresses not only access to treatment, but also the upstream conditions, digital environments, and social stressors that are driving poor mental health outcomes before they become crises. Our organization’s work with the School-Based Industry Council, comprised of policy experts, education leaders, corporate heads, and national advocates, will further explore key issues and advance possible solutions.
To get updates on ongoing efforts to improve youth mental health, stay connected to The Kennedy Forum by email, or follow us on LinkedIn.
About the Author:
Azadeh Farrah Osanloo, PhD, serves as Youth Mental Health Fellow at The Kennedy Forum, where she advances strategic efforts to accelerate progress toward the 90-90-90 goals for mental health and addiction and works with the School Based Industry Council to develop solutions. Azadeh brings more than two decades of leadership experience across higher education, public schools, and the nonprofit sector, with a sustained focus on equity-driven reform in K–20 systems.
