What is the impact of social media on children/teenagers with autism? Agree or Disagree?

hello.

U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy, also known as the 'nation's doctor,' spoke about the impact of social media on the mental health of children and adolescents.

These days, it's very difficult to live without social media... Have you ever thought about the impact of social media on children and teenagers with autism or how parents can intervene?

Today, I brought along an article from Psychology Today that summarizes how to intervene with children based on various papers (the questions used in the article are listed at the bottom).

Positive impacts of social media:

• Social connections:
• Children and adolescents with autism often have difficulty making social connections. Some studies have shown that autistic people are more likely than non-autistic people to seek social connections through social media.
• community:
• Social media platforms can help young people with autism find communities with shared interests and hobbies, and provide opportunities for self-expression. These connections are said to create a positive self-identity and also provide opportunities for exposure to role models.

Negative effects of social media:

• Mental Health:
• Studies show that using social media for more than three hours a day doubles the odds of teens experiencing symptoms of depression and anxiety.
• Autistic young people are particularly vulnerable, with more than 70% suffering from mental health conditions such as depression and anxiety. Excessive or problematic social media use can worsen this condition.
• Cyberbullying:
• Autistic youth are more likely to be victims of bullying and verbal abuse than their non-autistic counterparts. Research shows that people who experience cyberbullying are particularly vulnerable to the harmful effects of social media on their mental health.
• Negative description:
• Social media often portrays autism in a stigmatizing way. Finding information about autism on social media without proper guidance can have a negative impact on a child's self-esteem.
• Brain Development:
• A study of non-autistic adolescents found that increased social media use may alter the development of the amygdala and prefrontal cortex.
• These brain regions are associated with emotion regulation and reward sensitivity . Because these brain regions have been shown to develop differently in people with autism, social media use may have a greater impact on adolescents with autism.
• Sleep problems:
• Blue light from screens can suppress melatonin (the hormone that regulates your sleep cycle), making it difficult to fall asleep and causing you to wake up frequently.
• Social media use can suppress endogenous melatonin due to the blue light emitted from screens, and stimulating or anxiety-inducing content can interfere with sleep.

So what can parents or guardians do?

Surgeon General Dr. Murthy's recommendations include recommendations for policymakers, parents and researchers to mitigate the negative effects of social media. First, let’s take a closer look at the recommendations:

• Develop a media usage plan:
  • Set clear and specific guidelines for social media use, establishing healthy online time limits and a clear distinction between helpful versus harmful content.
  • Provides visual guidelines for planning your home's media use.
• Education about risks:
  • Teach children how to recognize the potential harms of social media, such as negative content, cyberbullying, and deception.
  • Briefly explain what bullying is using role-play and specific examples .
• Parental Guidance:
  • Encourage your child to question the appropriateness of content and report cyberbullying.
  • Avoid liking or sharing negative messages and report bullying to your school, online platforms, or law enforcement.
• Promote sleep hygiene:
  • For sleep, make it a rule to minimize or eliminate social media use in the bedroom, especially in the hours before bed.
• Encourage interaction:
  • Encourage face-to-face social interaction with family and friends through activities your child enjoys.

>>Through these measures, parents and guardians can help their children get the most out of social media while reducing its potential harm.

So how can we effectively manage our social media use using ABA methods?

• Visual schedule:
• Use a visual calendar to organize your social media use at specific times to maintain a balanced routine that includes offline activities.
• Positive reinforcement:
• Reward appropriate social media use (use according to planned schedule, frequency, duration, etc.) with praise or preferred activities. We hope you encourage healthy habits and reinforce rules.
• Behavior modeling:
• By showing parents using social media positively and responsibly, they encourage their children to follow suit.
• Social situation story:
• Write a social situation story that explains how to use social media in an easy-to-understand way, and read it repeatedly with your child.
• Teach your child healthy habits by revising the content until the child understands how to use it.

With the right guidance, parents and guardians can help their child or teen with autism get the most benefit from social media while reducing its potential harm.

If you would like to find out more details, please check the paper below.

References:

• Alonzo, R., et al. (2021). Interplay between social media use, sleep quality, and mental health in youth. Sleep Medicine Reviews.
• Bakombo S, et al. (2023). The Influence of Social Media on the Perception of Autism Spectrum Disorders. Int J Environ Res Public Health.
• Crone, E. A., & Konjin, E. A. (2018). Media use and brain development during adolescence. Nature Communications.
• Hassrick EM, et al. (2021). Benefits and Risk: A Systematic Review of Information and Communication Technology Use by Autistic People. Autism in adulthood.
• Maiano, C., et al. (2016). Prevalence of School Bullying Among Youth with Autism Spectrum Disorders. Autism Research.
• Riehm, K. E., et al. (2019). Associations Between Time Spent Using Social Media and Internalizing and Externalizing Problems Among US Youth. JAMA Psychiatry.