Annotated Bibliography

My civic engagement topic is “How has social media affected the poor mental health of

American teens in the past 20 years? How can we combat the rising rates of depression

and suicide in teens?” Suicide in teens is a rising problem in the world today, and many

people attribute it to social media. The youth are the future, and we need to protect

them and figure out how to stop this trend.

Albano, Anne Marie. “Is Social Media Threatening Teens' Mental Health and
Well-Being?” NewYork-Presbyterian, Health Matters, 28 Feb. 2020,
https://healthmatters.nyp.org/is-social-media-threatening-teens-mental-health-and-
well-being/.

The article “Is Social Media Threatening Teens’ Mental Health and Well-Being?”

by Anne Marie Albano was published to healthmatters.nyp.org on February 28, 2020. In

this article, Albano talks about how social media can threaten teen mental health. She

begins by describing how it can be harmful for teens to spend more time talking to

people online than they do in real life. She explains how this can make their real-world

life harder and increase feelings of anxiety, depression, and more. As the article

continues, Albano explores the many different things that social media misuse can

impact. For example, social media can promote unhealthy comparisons with others. In

the article Albano states, “[Kids] are looking at these sites through a negative lens of,

“I’m never going to be as good as these people.” That mindset puts them at risk of

increasing depression and isolation, and these are all factors that can contribute to

feelings of suicide, especially when bullying gets added to the mix”. She explains how

comparing ourselves to people on social media can amplify feelings of depression and
lead to suicide, which is very dangerous. Throughout the rest of the article, Albano

explores how social media can increase cyberbullying, social isolation, lack of sleep,

and FOMO. Then to conclude, Albano begins to talk about ways we can address this

problem. She says that it’s important to limit your social media use and spend time

doing more productive activities such as homework, exercising, or participating in

extracurricular activities.

The information in this article will be useful in my project because it covers a lot

of different ways that social media affects mental health. These will serve as good

evidence to back up the points I make in my argument. This article also offered some

good options for a solution, which will be very helpful for me to incorporate. This article

came from a health website and was written by an expert, so it is a very credible source.

Anne Marie Albano is a doctor who has a Ph.D. in psychiatry, and she specializes in

children and adolescents. She is more than qualified to write about this topic.

Bekalu, Mesfin Awoke. “Social Media Use Can Be Positive for Mental Health and
Well-Being.” News, 28 May 2020,
https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/news/features/social-media-positive-mental-health/.

The article “Social Media Use Can Be Positive for Mental Health and Well-Being.”

by Mesfin Awoke Bekalu was published to hsph.harvard.edu on May 28, 2020. In this

article, Bekalu talks about how social media can be a positive thing if used correctly. He

begins by talking about how social media often has a negative connotation with it. He

then explains that social media can actually be a good thing. It can strengthen our

relationships with others and make us happier. Bekalu says, “We know that having a

strong social network is associated with positive mental health and well-being...Social
media may provide individuals with a platform that overcomes barriers of distance and

time, allowing them to connect and reconnect with others and thereby expand and

strengthen their in-person networks and interactions”. He explains that social media can

help us to connect with people when we aren’t able to see them in person. In the article,

Bekalu also acknowledges that social media can have a very negative effect on people.

He stresses that social media can be a very beneficial tool if we are smart about the

way we use it.

The information in this article will be useful in my project because it

acknowledges the other side of my argument. This will help me to keep my project

well-balanced and unbiased. This article came from Harvard University, and it is very

credible. Mesfin Awoke Bekalu is a research scientist in the Lee Kum Sheung Center for

Health and Happiness, Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Harvard T.H.

Chan School of Public Health. He has a PhD in Social Sciences, and has written a lot of

articles about similar topics. He is very qualified to be writing about social media and

mental health.

Daniels, Micajah, et al. "Social Media and Substance Use Among Adolescents:
Implications for Research." Journal of Alcohol & Drug Education, vol. 65, no. 1,
Apr. 2021, pp. 9+. Gale In Context: High School,
link.gale.com/apps/doc/A664491891/SUIC?u=onlinelibrary&sid=bookmark-SUIC&x
id=a60eb34f. Accessed 9 Nov. 2021.

In the article “Social Media and Substance Use Among Adolescents” published to

the Journal of Alcohol & Drug Education in April 2021, Micajah Daniels, Manoj Sharma,

and Kativa Batra talk a lot about how the use of social media affects substance abuse

and risky-behaviors in adolescents. Daniels, Sharma, and Batra quoted a lot of studies
that explained the correlation between SMU (social media use), drug abuse, and mental

health. For example, they state, “As reported by the United Kingdom (U.K)-based study

of adolescents, increased SMU has heightened the risk of depressive disorders and

other adverse experiences such as being cyberbullied, poor sleep quality, and negative

body image in this group”. The authors explained that social media users were

categorized into a few groups depending on how they used social media, and it was

discovered that the people in the categories with the most social media usage were the

people that struggled with physical and mental health the most. Daniels, Sharma, and

Batra concluded the essay by emphasizing that we need to research this topic more

and take action to make change.

I plan to use this article in my project because it contains a lot of important

information about social media use in adolescents and how it affects them. This

information will back up my argument and make it more credible. There are three

authors of this article, and they are all very credible. They all come from the University

of Nevada, Las Vegas, and each of them specialize in Public Health. They are all

well-educated and qualified to write on this topic.

Masarweh, Lexi. “Social Media Negatively Affects Mental Health.” The Baylor
Lariat, The Baylor Lariat, 23 Sept. 2021,
https://baylorlariat.com/2021/09/23/social-media-affects-mental-health-negatively/.

The article “Social Media Negatively Affects Mental Health.” by Lexi Masarweh

was published to The Baylor Lariat on September 23, 2021. In the article, Masarweh

talks about how social media can be damaging to the mental health of young adults.

She quoted a lot of studies to back up her argument and incorporated the experiences
of young college students. This helped to portray how big of an impact social media can

have on a person's life. For example, Masarweh states, “Miami junior Dante Estrada

said that social media has been a part of his life since he was 12 years old and that as

he has gotten older, it has impacted everything from his social life to his sense of

humor”. She talks about how social media has shaped who Dante Estrada is, which

shows how much of an impact social media can have on people. Masarweh concluded

her article by quoting Dr. Christine Limbers and explaining how social media can

mentally drain a person and have a negative effect on their mental health.

The information in this article will be useful in my civic engagement project

because it includes a lot of facts and statistics. Incorporating these into my public

service announcement will be helpful because they will help to prove the validity of the

information I present. While Lexi Masarweh may not have a lot of education in this area,

I still feel that she is qualified to write about this topic because she is an educated writer.

She is a college student herself, so this topic is something that she can personally relate

to because she is young. She also had a very professional tone, and I could tell that she

had done sufficient research and knew what she was writing about.

Mir, Elina, et al. “Social Media and Adolescents' and Young Adults' Mental Health.”
National Center for Health Research, National Center for Health Research, 18 Oct.
2021, https://www.center4research.org/social-media-affects-mental-health/.

The article “Social Media and Adolescents’ and Young Adults’ Mental Health”

written by Elina Mir, Caroline Novas, and Meg Seymour was published to the National

Center for Health Research on October 18, 2021. In this article, Mir, Novas, and
Seymour talk about how social media can harm young people. They begin by describing

the different types of social media and which types are most popular. Then they

acknowledged that there are some benefits to social media, but they counteracted that

with the negative effects of social media. In the article, Mir, Novas and Seymour state,

“Although social media can allow people to reach out and connect with others, it can

also make some people feel worse. Almost 25% of adolescents believe that social

media has a mostly negative effect”. They explain that social media can allow people to

connect to others, but despite this, it seems that there are more cons than pros to social

media. They explore this topic even further using plenty of evidence to back up their

reasoning. Then to conclude the article, Mir, Novas, and Seymour give tips for parents

and young people to help them manage social media use and improve their mental

health.

The information in this article will be useful in my civic engagement project

because it outlines all of the points I plan to make. Some specific information that will be

especially helpful is the tips at the end of the article. These tips will be a great way for

me to show people a solution to this issue. All of the authors of this article are qualified

to write about this topic. They have a lot of experience in psychology and technology, so

they know what they are talking about.

Mundell, E. J. (2020, October 27). More evidence links social media use to poorer
mental health in teens. HealthDay. Retrieved November 3, 2021, from
https://consumer.healthday.com/kids-health-information-23/adolescents-and-teen-h
ealth-news-719/more-evidence-links-social-media-use-to-poorer-mental-health-in-t
eens-754691.html.
 In the article “More Evidence Links Social Media Use to Poorer Mental Health in

Teens” published to HealthDay.com on October 27, 2020, Mundell presented a lot of

information about the correlation between social media use and mental health,

specifically in teens. He acknowledged how recently there has been a rise in anxiety,

overdose, depression and suicide in young people. Then, he acknowledged the recent

progressions in technology and the increase of access to social media. He explained

this correlation and quoted many reputable studies. For example, Mundell said, “...the

Canadian researchers pointed to two studies -- one conducted in the United States, the

other in Germany -- which found that kids who spent more time on Facebook were more

prone to negative states such as envy and insecurity about their status…”. He then

concluded his article by talking about ways to stop this trend of declining mental health

in teens including limiting social media usage.

The information in this article will be very helpful in my civic engagement project

because it contains a lot of specific facts about my topic. I will be able to use these facts

to spread awareness about the severity of the issue, which will help me persuade my

audience to take action. E.J. Mundell is the executive editor of the Consumer News

Division at HealthDay News. He has written thousands of articles about health, and he

is very qualified to write about this topic.

"A Rise In Depression Among Teens And Young Adults Could Be Linked To Social
Media Use." All Things Considered, 14 Mar. 2019. Gale In Context: High School,
link.gale.com/apps/doc/A580046414/SUIC?u=onlinelibrary&sid=bookmark-SUIC&x
id=5e550a2c. Accessed 9 Nov. 2021.
 This piece is the script of a news broadcast interview hosted by Audie Cornish

called “A Rise In Depression Among Teens And Young Adults Could Be Linked To

Social Media Use” published to NPR.com on March 14, 2019. In the interview, Audie

Cornish covers the rise in depression and mental health issues in teens and talks about

how researchers believe that this is caused by the growth of social media. In the

broadcast Pattie Neighmond, Jean Twenge, and Mary Fristad talk about possible

reasons for this. For example, Twenge states, “Spending time on social media tends not

to be in real time. You're not having a real-time conversation with someone. Usually,

you're not seeing someone else's face. You can't give them a hug. It is just not as

emotionally fulfilling as seeing someone in person”. They explain that when you're

spending more time talking to people on social media than in real life, it inhibits the

connections you have with the people around you and can be damaging to your mental

health. In the interview, Neighmond also acknowledges the other side of the argument.

She quoted a man named Robert Croesner who does not believe that these mental

health issues are caused by social media, but rather by an uncertainty of the future.

Neighmond concludes by stating that researchers should go into more detail about this

topic to find a definite answer.

The information in this broadcast will be very useful in my civic engagement

project because it has a lot of important facts that are easy to understand, and it also

acknowledges the other side of the argument. All of the people who took part in this

broadcast are qualified and trustworthy. Pattie Neighmond is NPR’s health policy

correspondent, Jean Twenge is Professor of Psychology at San Diego State University

and has written many articles and books about this topic, and Mary Fristad works in the
Department of Psychology at Ohio State University. Their articles and writings are very

credible sources for this topic.

I found all of the information in these sources very interesting. They helped me to

get a deeper understanding of my research topic and make my argument more valid. I

liked learning about all of the different statistics that go along with social media and

mental health. I found it crazy that there is such a big correlation between the two. I also

liked hearing the different perspectives of many different authors. It helped me to get a

full understanding of all sides of the topic. I will definitely use the strategies I learned

while doing this assignment to help me research other topics I have questions about in

the future.

Revisions:

I also made a lot of revisions to my Annotated Bibliography. Similar to my

Flash Narrative, I began by reading through all of my writing. I fixed any minor

grammatical or spelling errors that I found. Then, I reworded phrases that I

thought sounded odd. I also added phrases and sentences that I felt would add to

my writing.

Then, I decided to add another source. I did this because I felt that it would

add more evidence to my research and increase the overall quality of my

Annotated Bibliography. I researched and read through a variety of different

articles until I finally found one that contained the best information and that was

very credible. I read through the article carefully and completed an in-depth

analysis of it, and I think it adds a lot to my bibliography.