Social and environmental factors

Digital Environments and Youth Mental Health

Across the world, children and young people are growing up in digital environments that shape their social lives, education, identity development, and access to information.

Digital environments, including social media, online communities, gaming platforms, and emerging generative artificial intelligence (AI) technologies, offer important opportunities for connection, learning, creativity, and help-seeking. At the same time, there are growing concerns about their potential to negatively impact youth mental health and wellbeing.

The purpose of this project was to develop a consensus-based global research agenda on digital environments and the mental health of children and young people. This objective was based on a request from WHO for a rapid, structured research prioritization exercise that could engage interdisciplinary experts and young people across diverse world regions.