Chapter 21: Further Reading

Essential Sources

Orben, A., & Przybylski, A. K. (2019). "The association between adolescent well-being and digital technology use." Nature Human Behaviour, 3(2), 173–182. The specification curve analysis showing the association is tiny and sensitive to analytical choices. Essential reading for understanding the "small effect" side.

Haidt, J. (2024). The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness. Penguin Press. The most comprehensive statement of the "social media causes the crisis" position. Read it alongside the critiques.

Twenge, J. M., Joiner, T. E., Rogers, M. L., & Martin, G. N. (2018). "Increases in depressive symptoms, suicide-related outcomes, and suicide rates among U.S. adolescents after 2010 and links to increased new media screen time." Clinical Psychological Science, 6(1), 3–17. Twenge's influential paper linking screen time trends to youth mental health deterioration.

Odgers, C. L. (2018). "Smartphones and social media are not the problem." Nature, 554, 432–434. A leading developmental psychologist's argument that the evidence does not support the strong causal claim.

Ellis, D. A., Davidson, B. I., Shaw, H., & Geyer, K. (2019). "Do smartphone usage scales predict behavior?" International Journal of Human-Computer Studies, 130, 86–92. The study showing that self-reported screen time is only modestly correlated with objectively measured use — a fundamental measurement problem for the field.

Valkenburg, P. M., Meier, A., & Beyens, I. (2022). "Social media use and its impact on adolescent mental health: An umbrella review of the evidence." Current Opinion in Psychology, 44, 58–68. Balanced umbrella review acknowledging both potential harms and benefits, with emphasis on individual differences in vulnerability.

Hancock, J. T., Liu, S. X., Luo, M., & Mieczkowski, H. (2022). "Psychological well-being and social media use: A meta-analysis of associations between social media use and depression, anxiety, loneliness, eudaimonic, hedonic and social well-being." SSRN preprint. Large meta-analysis finding that associations between social media use and wellbeing vary by the type of wellbeing measured and the type of social media use.

Orben, A. (2020). "Teenagers, screens and social media: A narrative review of reviews and key studies." Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology, 55(4), 407–414. An accessible review by one of the leading researchers. Balanced and methodologically careful.

Przybylski, A. K., & Weinstein, N. (2017). "A large-scale test of the Goldilocks Hypothesis: Quantifying the relations between digital-screen use and the mental well-being of adolescents." Psychological Science, 28(2), 204–215. The "Goldilocks" study suggesting moderate screen time may be neutral or even beneficial, with only excessive use associated with worse wellbeing.

Online Resources

After Babel (Substack). Jonathan Haidt's collaborative blog presenting the evidence for social media's role in the teen mental health crisis. Engaging and well-organized, but read with awareness of the advocacy position.

The Transparency Project. Oxford Internet Institute researchers' responses to media coverage of digital technology and wellbeing research. Useful for methodological critiques.

Common Sense Media. Research reports on children's media use. More balanced than most media coverage, though advocacy-oriented toward regulation.