Amanda Lenhart
Head of Research, Common Sense
How Young People Take Charge of Their Mental Health Online
Our new research shows teens and young adults often turn to social media, online therapy, and apps to manage their mental and behavioral health.
Many young people struggle to find in-person care, support, and practical information for their behavioral health challenges, from stress or anxiety to ADHD or substance use. But ever since the COVID-19 pandemic forced much of our health care online, digital options for supporting mental health have been growing in availability and accessibility.
Our new research report, "Getting Help Online: How Young People Find, Evaluate, and Use Mental Health Apps, Online Therapy, and Behavioral Health Information," explores how teens and young adults are using social media, online therapy, and apps to manage their behavioral health and well-being. It's the second report in a series we've done in partnership with Hopelab, focused on how young people are using technology to support their mental and behavioral health.
This report shows that young people are turning to online resources and generally finding them helpful. But they also flag some areas that could be improved.
Here are a few key findings from our report:
-
Online resources are a vital lifeline for youth mental well-being.
With in-person care and support often difficult to access, many young people are using online resources for their behavioral health needs. The availability of digital resources provides crucial support for those who seek assistance and practical information.
Of the young people surveyed, 65% have searched online for behavioral health topics.
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Young people don't take what they find online at face value.
Contrary to media trends that suggest young people are relying solely on social media for self-diagnosis, the report found that they often vet the content they find, compare the information across multiple sources, or even run the information by family members. Often, the first content they find on social media involves people "just like them," with similar symptoms or grappling with the same issues. Then, that information becomes a jumping-off point for a series of steps most youth take to use trusted sources to vet the mental health information they find.
89% of respondents sometimes, often, or always consider the trustworthiness of an online source.
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Particular groups are more likely to use apps, online therapy, and online resources to support their mental health.
In a through line from our previous report, these tools are even more important for Black and Latino youth, LGBTQ+ youth, and youth with depressive symptoms. Black and Latino youth have historically had less access to traditional or in-person support for mental health. And in some of our qualitative interviews, they reported turning to social media when they faced stigma within their family or community.
Black (64%) and Latino (59%) youth are more likely to lean on social media for mental health information and support than White youth (44%).
LGBTQ+ young people are more likely to have ever sought information online about behavioral health-related topics than their non-LGBTQ+ peers (91% vs. 61%).
Young people who are LGBTQ+ are about twice as likely as their non-LGBTQ+ peers to report ever having attended online therapy (44% vs. 23%).
Youth with moderate to severe depressive symptoms are more likely than those with mild depressive symptoms and young people with no symptoms to look up health information online about depression (47% vs. 30% vs. 15%), anxiety (46% vs. 32% vs. 11%), sleep (41% vs. 34% vs. 11%), and happiness or well-being (41% vs. 31% vs. 12%).
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While online mental health tools are helpful overall to young people, the results were uneven.
In general, online therapy and telehealth tools have increased access to mental and behavioral health services, and many young people reported that they found them helpful. But apps were more of a mixed bag, which shines a light on the inconsistent offerings in the marketplace, which has been flooded with new entrants.
Among young people who have ever attended online therapy, about 6 in 10 found the experience very helpful (31%) or somewhat helpful (31%).
Of those who have ever used an app for their mental well-being, less than half (47% ) found the app to be very or somewhat helpful, while 37% found the app a little or not at all helpful.
These findings underscore the importance of making mental health resources as high-quality and easily accessible as possible, ensuring that young people can receive the support they need. If we are to find real solutions to the youth mental health crisis, we need to keep culturally informed and efficacious tools front and center for states and school districts as ways to offer behavioral health support for young people.
We also need more research to better understand who uses these tools, how they function, and how effective they are for young people. This is an important aspect of the conversation as we work to expand access to broadband internet, close digital equity gaps, and ensure that all communities can find help online.
This article is co-authored by Amy Green, PhD, head of research at Hopelab. Writers for the full report include Angela Calvin, Alexa Hasse, and Mary Madden, with support from Amanda Lenhart and the Hopelab team.
Many young people struggle to find in-person care, support, and practical information for their behavioral health challenges, from stress or anxiety to ADHD or substance use. But ever since the COVID-19 pandemic forced much of our health care online, digital options for supporting mental health have been growing in availability and accessibility.
Our new research report, "Getting Help Online: How Young People Find, Evaluate, and Use Mental Health Apps, Online Therapy, and Behavioral Health Information," explores how teens and young adults are using social media, online therapy, and apps to manage their behavioral health and well-being. It's the second report in a series we've done in partnership with Hopelab, focused on how young people are using technology to support their mental and behavioral health.
This report shows that young people are turning to online resources and generally finding them helpful. But they also flag some areas that could be improved.
Here are a few key findings from our report:
-
Online resources are a vital lifeline for youth mental well-being.
With in-person care and support often difficult to access, many young people are using online resources for their behavioral health needs. The availability of digital resources provides crucial support for those who seek assistance and practical information.Of the young people surveyed, 65% have searched online for behavioral health topics.
-
Young people don't take what they find online at face value.
Contrary to media trends that suggest young people are relying solely on social media for self-diagnosis, the report found that they often vet the content they find, compare the information across multiple sources, or even run the information by family members. Often, the first content they find on social media involves people "just like them," with similar symptoms or grappling with the same issues. Then, that information becomes a jumping-off point for a series of steps most youth take to use trusted sources to vet the mental health information they find.
89% of respondents sometimes, often, or always consider the trustworthiness of an online source.
-
Particular groups are more likely to use apps, online therapy, and online resources to support their mental health.
In a through line from our previous report, these tools are even more important for Black and Latino youth, LGBTQ+ youth, and youth with depressive symptoms. Black and Latino youth have historically had less access to traditional or in-person support for mental health. And in some of our qualitative interviews, they reported turning to social media when they faced stigma within their family or community.
Black (64%) and Latino (59%) youth are more likely to lean on social media for mental health information and support than White youth (44%).
LGBTQ+ young people are more likely to have ever sought information online about behavioral health-related topics than their non-LGBTQ+ peers (91% vs. 61%).
Young people who are LGBTQ+ are about twice as likely as their non-LGBTQ+ peers to report ever having attended online therapy (44% vs. 23%).
Youth with moderate to severe depressive symptoms are more likely than those with mild depressive symptoms and young people with no symptoms to look up health information online about depression (47% vs. 30% vs. 15%), anxiety (46% vs. 32% vs. 11%), sleep (41% vs. 34% vs. 11%), and happiness or well-being (41% vs. 31% vs. 12%).
-
While online mental health tools are helpful overall to young people, the results were uneven.
In general, online therapy and telehealth tools have increased access to mental and behavioral health services, and many young people reported that they found them helpful. But apps were more of a mixed bag, which shines a light on the inconsistent offerings in the marketplace, which has been flooded with new entrants.
Among young people who have ever attended online therapy, about 6 in 10 found the experience very helpful (31%) or somewhat helpful (31%).
Of those who have ever used an app for their mental well-being, less than half (47% ) found the app to be very or somewhat helpful, while 37% found the app a little or not at all helpful.
These findings underscore the importance of making mental health resources as high-quality and easily accessible as possible, ensuring that young people can receive the support they need. If we are to find real solutions to the youth mental health crisis, we need to keep culturally informed and efficacious tools front and center for states and school districts as ways to offer behavioral health support for young people.
We also need more research to better understand who uses these tools, how they function, and how effective they are for young people. This is an important aspect of the conversation as we work to expand access to broadband internet, close digital equity gaps, and ensure that all communities can find help online.
This article is co-authored by Amy Green, PhD, head of research at Hopelab. Writers for the full report include Angela Calvin, Alexa Hasse, and Mary Madden, with support from Amanda Lenhart and the Hopelab team.
Amanda Lenhart leads research efforts at Common Sense Media. She has spent her career studying how technology affects human lives, with a special focus on families and children. Most recently, as the program director for Health and Data at Data & Society Research Institute, Amanda investigated how social media platforms design for the digital well-being of youth. She began her career at the Pew Research Center, pioneering the Center’s work studying how teens and families use social and mobile technologies.