Georgia Department of Public Health partners with Georgia Southern researchers for study on adolescent social media use 

The Georgia Department of Health is working with researchers from Georgia Southern University’s Jiann-Ping Hsu College of Public Health after Georgia lawmakers requested more information to address the rise of adolescent social media use.  

The U.S. Surgeon General said social media use among adolescents is increasing at an alarming pace, and its effects on youth ages 13 to 18 are concerning. 

“There are increasing concerns among researchers, parents and caregivers, young people, health care experts and others about the impact of social media on youth mental health,”  the surgeon general’s advisory, published in 2023, states. “More research is needed to understand the impact of social media fully.” 

“We frequently partner with the Department of Public Health,” said Tilicia Mayo-Gamble, Ph.D., associate dean for practice and research and principal investigator for the report. “This was going to require intense data collection, and they knew we could handle it.” 

Mayo-Gamble is an associate professor in the Department of Health Policy and Community Health at Georgia Southern. Her background in communications proved helpful as she partnered with Chun Hai Fung, Ph.D., professor of biostatistics, epidemiology and environmental health sciences, whose work was cited in the surgeon general’s initial report.

“Dr. Fung is an excellent epidemiologist, and he also works with large data sets,” Mayo-Gamble said. “That’s exactly what this project needed.”

The group reviewed post-COVID research and existing federal laws before recommending a comprehensive media literacy program. It would target students in grades 4 through 12 and be developed by the Georgia Department of Education. Mayo-Gamble said the curriculum would teach healthy social media habits, privacy protection skills and problematic use patterns.    

“A program like this would be extremely important,” she said. “That’s what public health is; it’s more than research, it’s about having the chance to impact people’s lives.”

They also recommended continued funding for research and monitoring social media’s impact on youth. The collected data would be used to inform future policy development as technologies continue to grow. But these benefits extend beyond informing policymakers. 

“Research like this is meant to support communication between parents and their children,” Mayo-Gamble said. “I do think that a lot of parents worry if they’re doing the right thing for their kids. So if there’s an opportunity to educate parents about something that impacts their ability to be a good parent, I think that’s the type of research we should be doing.”