International Day of Happiness

Selecting high-quality evidence is only part of the challenge. “Good evidence” must be paired with the “good governance of evidence”. Key Insights  Professional science organisations that have examined social media and adolescent mental health have reached different conclusions and policy recommendations despite examining similar research. Given their substantial influence on policy and public understanding , it is important to investigate their evidence synthesis practices. Our analysis of three high-profile reports on social media and adolescent mental health finds that they cited broadly similar types of research, yet showed little overlap (<1%) in their sources. We also found considerable variation in how the reports synthesize, communicate, and simplify evidence, including differences in citation accuracy, contextual detail, limitation acknowledgement, and conclusion strength. The stakes of getting these syntheses right are substantial. Poor synthesis quality risks deve...

  Among girls worldwide, non-users and light users of social media were more satisfied with their lives than heavy users. Key Insights  Although many studies have documented links between heavy social media use and poor mental health , fewer studies have explored associations with positive well-being , especially in international datasets. In 2022, the OECD’s PISA survey, conducted in 47 countries, asked over 270,000 15- to 16-year-olds how many hours a day they spent using social media and how satisfied they were with their lives. Among girls, mean life satisfaction was highest among light users of social media (less than an hour a day) and declined with further hours of use. Among boys, this pattern held only in Western Europe and English-speaking countries. The mean differences obscure a notable pattern, especially among boys. Compared to light users, a larger percentage of the heaviest users (7+ hours a day) had both the highest level of life satisfaction (10) and the lo...