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The Rise of Social Media and the Fall in Mental Well‐Being Among Young Australians

Andrew Leigh & Stephen Robson

The Australian Economic Review2025https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8462.12584article
AJG 1ABDC B
Weight
0.53

What the paper says

ABSTRACT Using multiple sources, we document a substantial worsening in the mental well‐being of Australians aged 15–24 years, as measured by surveys, self‐harm hospitalisations and suicide deaths. The shift began around 2007–2010 and is worse for young women than for young men. Although several factors could be to blame, we present six pieces of evidence suggesting that smartphones and social media may have played a causal role in damaging the mental health of young Australians.

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https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8462.12584

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@article{andrew2025,
  title        = {{The Rise of Social Media and the Fall in Mental Well‐Being Among Young Australians}},
  author       = {Andrew Leigh & Stephen Robson},
  journal      = {The Australian Economic Review},
  year         = {2025},
  doi          = {https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8462.12584},
}

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The Rise of Social Media and the Fall in Mental Well‐Being Among Young Australians

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Evidence weight

0.53

Balanced mode · F 0.40 / M 0.15 / V 0.05 / R 0.40

F · citation impact0.50 × 0.4 = 0.20
M · momentum0.70 × 0.15 = 0.10
V · venue signal0.50 × 0.05 = 0.03
R · text relevance †0.50 × 0.4 = 0.20

† Text relevance is estimated at 0.50 on the detail page — for your query’s actual relevance score, open this paper from a search result.