Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • COMMENT

Do social-media bans benefit young people? These data could offer clues

Australia’s Online Safety Amendment Act provides the chance for researchers to analyse the complex relationship between social-media use and mental health in adolescents, but results should be interpreted with caution.
By
  1. Helen Christensen

    1. Helen Christensen is a professor of psychiatry and mental health, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia.

  2. Andrew Mackinnon

    1. Andrew Mackinnon is professor of biostatistics, The Black Dog Institute, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.

Overhead view of two teenagers in school uniform sitting on a bench next to their school bags while looking at their mobile phones

Smartphone use among teenagers is a hot-button topic for many people. Credit: Matthew Abbot/The New York Times/Redux/eyevine

Access through your institution
Buy or subscribe

In December, the Australian government will bring the Online Safety Amendment Act into force. The law will prevent people under 16 years of age from having accounts for a range of social-media platforms, including Instagram, Facebook, TikTok and YouTube. The legislation, introduced in response to concerns over children’s online safety and well-being1, provides a golden opportunity for researchers to investigate how social-media use might affect mental health among adolescents — a complex issue that has been the subject of heated debate.

Access options

Access through your institution

Rent or buy this article

Prices vary by article type

from$1.95

to$39.95

Learn more

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Nature 645, 38-40 (2025)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-025-02759-5

References

  1. National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. Social Media and Adolescent Health (National Academies Press, 2024).

    Google Scholar 

  2. Lawrence, D. et al. The Mental Health of Children and Adolescents: Report on the Second Australian Child and Adolescent Survey of Mental Health and Wellbeing (Australian Government, 2015).

    Google Scholar 

  3. Werner-Seidler, A. et al. Int. J. Methods Psychiatr. Res. 32, e1954 (2023).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. Champion, K. E. et al. Lancet Digit. Health 5, E276–E287 (2023).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. Pirkis, J. et al. Lancet Psychiatry 8, 579–588 (2021).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. Chen, S. & van Ours, J. C. Health Econ. 31, 42–56 (2022).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  7. Raifman, J., Moscoe, E., Austin, S. B. & McConnell, M. JAMA Pediatr. 171, 350–356 (2017).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  8. Beames, J. R. et al. Child Adolesc. Psychiatry Ment. Health 17, 34 (2023).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Competing Interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

Subjects

Latest on:

Nature Careers

Jobs

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing

Search

Advanced search

Quick links