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Editorial
Social media impact on athlete mental health: #RealityCheck
  1. Margot Putukian1,
  2. Cheri Blauwet2,
  3. Alan Currie3,
  4. Vincent Gouttebarge4,
  5. David McDuff5,
  6. Margo L Mountjoy6,
  7. Scott Sloan7,
  8. Abhinav Bindra8,
  9. Richard Budgett9,
  10. Lars Engebretsen9,10,
  11. Rosemary Purcell11
  1. 1 Consultant, Major League Soccer, Princeton, New Jersey, USA
  2. 2 Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
  3. 3 Northumberland Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK
  4. 4 Orthopaedic Surgery, Amsterdam University Medical Centres, Duivendrecht, The Netherlands
  5. 5 Psychiatry, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
  6. 6 Department of Family Medicine, Hamilton, Stockholm, Sweden
  7. 7 Medical and Scientific Department, IOC, lausanne, Switzerland
  8. 8 International Olympic Committee, Dehradun, Uttarakhand, India
  9. 9 International Olympic Committee, Lausanne, Vaud, Switzerland
  10. 10 University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
  11. 11 Centre for Youth Mental Health, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
  1. Correspondence to Dr Margot Putukian, Major League Soccer, Princeton, New Jersey, USA; mputukian{at}gmail.com

https://doi.org/10.1136/bjsports-2023-107651

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    #RealityCheck

    Global social media use rates have nearly tripled1 with 95% of 13–27-year-olds using YouTube and other platforms such as TikTok (67%), Instagram (62%) and Snapchat (59%) and 35% of users doing so ‘almost constantly’.2 95% of teens have access to a smartphone, and 97% use the internet daily.2 The US Surgeon General3 and the American Psychological Association4 have voiced considerable concern about the potential negative impact of social media on youth and adolescent mental health, calling it ‘an urgent public health issue’.3

    Although the literature on mental health and social media use has increased, minimal research exists on young and/or elite athletes, leaving many important questions unanswered. What are the positive and negative mental health effects of social media on athletes? Are there opportunities to use social media to increase mental health literacy, destigmatise mental health and normalise help-seeking behaviours? What measures exist to protect young and elite athletes from adverse effects of social media? This editorial addresses the potential benefits and harms of social media use on the mental health of athletes and calls for increased research, education and policy to better safeguard athletes in the future.

    #SocialMediaPositivity

    Positive effects of social media include the ability to share and communicate with family, friends and those with similar interests. Social media creates a space to make connections worldwide and opportunities to learn and gain support, companionship, emotional connection2 5 6 and healthy socialisation.2 4 6 7 This is particularly relevant when individuals are isolated or stressed, …

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    Footnotes

    • X @Mputukian, @vgouttebarge

    • Collaborators IOC Mental Health Working Group (all authors).

    • Contributors All authors were involved in the conception, reviewing and revising drafts. MP created the initial draft and collated all edits and revisions. All authors were involved in reviewing and approving the final manuscript prior to submission.

    • Funding This study was funded by IOC Mental Health Working Group and International Olympic Committee.

    • Competing interests CB is an associate editor of the BJSM and a member of the BJSM IPHP Editorial Board. She is a member of the IOC Medical and Scientific Commission and the IPC Medical Committee. VG is chair of the IOC Mental Health Working Group, and MLM, AB, CB, AC, DM, RP and MP are members. MLM is a deputy editor of the BJSM and a member of the BJSM IPHP Editorial Board. RB is the IOC Medical and Scientific Director, LE is the IOC head of Science Activities and an IPHP editor of the BJSM.

    • Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.