Most social media research has failed policy-makers Research on social media use and adolescent mental health has shown mixed results, and has often yielded no evidence of a strong relationship. But such studies have largely ignored the ‘cost of missing out’ — the social cost of not belonging. Children with higher social media use could be happier than their peers and, at the same time, social media use could cause a decline in collective well-being. This is why most social media studies are not useful for informing policies. For example, one cross-sectional study found that digital technology use explains only 0.4% of variation in adolescent well-being, and the authors caution against policy change. Yet this study was conducted entirely under conditions in which social media use is ubiquitous (scenario A). The change in well-being that would follow a move to a situation in which social media use is regulated (scenario B) simply cannot be estimated from such data. nature.com/articles/s41562-0…

Happiness is plummeting, especially among young people. When I see demoralizing data like this over and over again (e.g., test scores dropping, loneliness on the rise, etc), I just think we need to change course. Defending the status quo seems like such a bad option.

Contact with nature is good for us Experiments from environmental psychology have found that nature contact decreases negative affect, stress, and anxiety before and after nature walks or during the viewing of images in a laboratory setting. Lowers levels of cardiovascular disease and mortality risk are associated with living near nature. Nature contact also increases positive affect and life-satisfaction. Get outside :) cell.com/trends/cognitive-sc…

Is doomscrolling bad for your cognitive capacity? A new meta-analysis of 42 studies (N = 46,912) finds that consuming short-form videos is consistently associated with increases in inattention and impulsivity; moderate reductions in working-memory span and self-regulation; moderate elevations in anxiety, depression and stress; and a moderate-to-large surge in addiction symptoms. More experiments and longitudinal studies are needed to nail down causality. But these are concerning findings: link.springer.com/article/10…