Experts come together to discuss social media use in children and young people

The “Teens, Screens & Social Media” webinar, held on Thursday 18 September, brought together clinicians, researchers and educators to critically examine both the opportunities and challenges posed by digital technologies in the lives of children and young people.  

In November 2024, the Australian Government passed a new law which introduces a mandatory minimum age of 16 for accounts on certain social media platforms. These regulations will come into place by December 2025 and will ensure platforms take reasonable steps to verify users’ ages. 

During the webinar, experts from the UK and Australia discussed this timely and globally relevant topic through a series of talks and panel discussion which examined how social media use intersects with mental health and wellbeing.  

Professor Philip Shaw, Director of the King’s Maudsley Partnership for Children and Young People and Professor at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience (IoPPN) at King’s College London opened the webinar.

Learning from Australia: digital technology and mental health 

Dr Danielle Einstein, Clinical Psychologist and Adjunct Fellow at Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia, discussed the relationship between social media use and the mental health of children and young people. She highlighted the growing concern around the psychological impact of online engagement, noting in one study that 58 per cent of students reported their self-esteem is influenced by the number of likes, comments and shares they receive.

Dr Einstein emphasised that the instant reassurance provided by social media may be undermining young people’s ability to tolerate uncertainty and develop healthy coping mechanisms. She concluded by stressing the importance of “device discipline”, encouraging families, schools and social media companies to reflect on how addictive design features and constant connectivity can decrease resilience.

More information can be read in Dr Einstein’s substack https://theeinsteinreport.substack.com/. 

Are smartphones addictive?  

Dr Nicola Kalk, Adjunct Senior Lecturer at the IoPPN and Consultant Addiction Psychiatrist at South London & Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, discussed problematic smartphone use is not simply about screentime. Drawing on previous research from over 40,000 young people, primarily in Southeast Asia, 23 per cent reported smartphone use patterns consistent with behavioural addiction, which were associated with stress, anxiety, depression and poor sleep.

Building on this, Dr Kalk shared findings from more recent UK-based research, which found problematic smartphone use is not culturally bound. She highlighted a study in the United States, involving over 4,000 students, which identified persistent and increasing patterns of addictive smartphone use—both of which were associated with suicidal ideation and behaviour.

She ended with a thought-provoking question “is it the phone itself that’s addictive, or the content it delivers?”.

Panel discussion 

The webinar concluded with a panel discussion chaired by Professor Ben Carter, Professor of Medical Statistics at the IoPPN.

The panel featured experts from London and Sydney, including Dr Nicola Kalk, Dr Danielle Einstein, Professor Rina Dutta (Professor in Psychiatry and Academic Capacity Development at King’s College London and Consultant Psychiatrist at South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust) and Professor Nick Titov AM (Macquarie University, Australia and Executive Director of MindSpot).

Watch below:

The webinar coincided closely with today’s Youth Mental Health Day, which is celebrated annually on 19 September. The awareness day was founded by UK charity stem4 to improve young people’s mental wellbeing.

It was an opportunity to engage with key themes that will be explored in greater depth at a future conference at King’s College London on Thursday 26 February 2026, encouraging dialogue and collaboration across disciplines.

For more information, please contact Anisa Haque (School of Mental Health & Psychological Sciences Communications Assistant).

This blog is also available to read on the IoPPN website.