Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the use of social media by different age groups on levels of (a) depression, (b) bad nerves and (c) anxiety.

We have funded independent research into the impact of screen-based activities, including use of social media on young people’s mental health outcomes. Following this, in 2019, the United Kingdom’s Chief Medical Officers (CMOs) produced advice for parents and carers on screen and social media use.

The findings of the research were insufficiently conclusive to support evidence-based guidelines by the CMOs on optimal amounts of screen use or online activities. However, we will continue to evaluate this and our policy development in light of any new research. The findings of the research are available at the following link:

http://eppi.ioe.ac.uk/cms/Default.aspx?tabid=3748