Is social media driving teen mental health issues? | The Vergecast

由劳伦·费纳主持的播客节目The VergeCast，深入探讨了自2010年以来青少年心理健康下降的紧迫问题。尽管社会心理学家乔纳森·海特在其畅销书《焦虑的一代》中将这场危机主要归因于智能手机和社交媒体，但波士顿学院心理学研究教授彼得·格雷在他的新书《重塑童年》中提出了一种截然不同的理论。格雷认为，根本原因在于全国性教育标准（特别是共同核心课程）所导致的学业压力增加，以及社会上儿童独立玩耍的普遍减少。有趣的是，他还提出互联网最初对青少年心理健康产生了 *积极* 影响。 格雷对青少年心理健康趋势进行了历史回顾。从1950年到1990年，青少年自杀率增长了四倍，格雷认为这一趋势也伴随着焦虑和抑郁的上升。他将这一时期与社会变革联系起来，这些变革逐渐限制了儿童在没有成人监督的情况下与同伴进行独立玩耍和探索的自由。格雷强调，这种独立活动对于健康的心理发展至关重要，它能培养自主感和内部控制源。他指出，剥夺儿童这些机会会阻碍他们的幸福感和解决问题的能力。 有趣的是，格雷强调了1990年至2012年间一个后续的、却常被忽视的改善期，在此期间，焦虑、抑郁和自杀率显著下降。他将这一积极转变归因于家用电脑和互联网的广泛普及。他解释道，青少年迅速接受了这些新技术，找到了一个可以独立玩耍、探索和交流的线上空间。这个数字领域为在现实世界中日益受限的社交互动和自主性提供了一条新途径。格雷驳斥了同期SSRI药物的兴起可以解释这种普遍改善的观点，理由是使用数据不足且其有效性得到证实的程度有限。 从2010年起，青少年心理健康问题再度飙升，这种现象通常与社交媒体相关，而这正是格雷的理论与海特的理论截然不同的地方。格雷将这种下降直接与共同核心课程的严格实施联系起来，该课程在2010年左右获得显著推行，因为“不让一个孩子掉队”法案得到了更严格的执行。这包括标准化考试，以及根据学生表现来评估教育者和学校。格雷认为，这创造了一个“应试教育”盛行的环境，加剧了学生和教师的压力与焦虑。学校，本身就已是青少年压力的一个重要来源（暑假期间心理健康问题减少即是证明），变得更加严苛且更易引发焦虑。格雷认为，这种加剧的学业压力，而非社交媒体，才是2010年后心理健康危机的主要驱动因素。他指出，这些问题在2018年左右达到顶峰，随后略有下降，这可能表明共同核心课程的影响力正在减弱。 格雷坚决驳斥智能手机和社交媒体是主要原因的观点，将这种普遍担忧定性为一场“道德恐慌”。他指出，大量的学术研究，包括众多研究和荟萃分析，他声称这些研究表明社交媒体使用对心理健康要么没有显著关联，要么甚至有益。他认为，在存在关联的情况下，纵向研究通常表明存在反向因果关系：现有的心理健康问题可能导致为了应对而增加社交媒体的使用。此外，格雷强调了一个关键的地理差异：尽管社交媒体普及率相似，但危机在美国急剧升级，而在欧盟并未观察到类似趋势，这削弱了“社交媒体是罪魁祸首”的普遍理论。 针对家长对孩子使用智能手机的担忧，格雷承认他们的苦恼，但告诫不要从轶事证据中得出结论，因为轶事证据可能受到普遍的社会恐惧和确认偏误的影响。他认为，成年人可能会误解或忽视这些技术所提供的潜在益处。 关于潜在的监管，格雷对彻底禁止或严格的最低年龄限制的有效性持怀疑态度，他指出儿童有能力规避此类限制。他认为智能手机是导航、交流和安全的宝贵工具，并反对将其移除。尽管他可能支持对色情等明确有害内容进行年龄验证，但他认为社交媒体的最低年龄限制是“侵犯人权”，因为它阻碍了儿童的言论自由、表达和教育机会。相反，格雷主张赋予儿童知识和安全指导，相信他们能够学会负责任地驾驭网络世界，就像孩子曾经被教导独立驾驭物理世界一样。 尽管海特影响力巨大，格雷仍然希望他有研究支持的理论最终能获得认可。他将其与过去关于视频游戏和恐怖漫画书的“道德恐慌”作比较，在那些事件中，最初的公众焦虑最终随着科学证据的出现而让位于更细致的理解。最终，格雷相信“科学会取得胜利”。

The VergeCast, hosted by Lauren Feiner, delves into the pressing issue of declining teen mental health since 2010. While social psychologist Jonathan Haidt's popular book, *The Anxious Generation*, attributes this crisis primarily to smartphones and social media, Boston College psychology research professor Peter Gray offers a contrasting theory in his new book, *Restoring Childhood*. Gray contends that the root cause lies in increased academic pressure stemming from nationwide education standards, specifically the Common Core curriculum, and a broader societal reduction in children's independent play. Intriguingly, he also suggests the internet initially had a *positive* impact on teen mental health. Gray provides a historical overview of teen mental health trends. From 1950 to 1990, suicide rates among teenagers saw a four-fold increase, a pattern Gray argues was mirrored by rising anxiety and depression. He links this period to societal changes that progressively restricted children's freedom for independent play and exploration with peers, away from adult supervision. Gray emphasizes that this independent activity is crucial for healthy psychological development, fostering a sense of agency and an internal locus of control. Denying children these opportunities, he states, hinders their happiness and ability to learn problem-solving. Interestingly, Gray highlights a subsequent, often overlooked period of improvement between 1990 and 2012, during which rates of anxiety, depression, and suicide declined significantly. He attributes this positive shift to the widespread adoption of home computers and the internet. Teenagers, he explains, were quick to embrace these new technologies, finding an online space to play, explore, and communicate independently. This digital realm offered a new avenue for the social interaction and autonomy that had been increasingly curtailed in the physical world. Gray dismisses the idea that the contemporaneous rise of SSRI medications could explain this widespread improvement, citing insufficient usage data and limited demonstrated effectiveness. The renewed spike in mental health issues among teens from 2010 onwards, a phenomenon commonly linked to social media, is where Gray's theory sharply diverges from Haidt's. Gray connects this decline directly to the stringent implementation of the Common Core curriculum, which gained significant traction around 2010 as the "No Child Left Behind" act became more rigorously enforced. This involved standardized testing and evaluating educators and schools based on student performance. Gray argues this created an environment where "teaching to the test" became prevalent, intensifying pressure and anxiety for both students and teachers. School, already a significant source of stress for young people (as evidenced by reduced mental health issues during summer breaks), became an even more demanding and anxiety-inducing environment. Gray suggests this heightened academic pressure, rather than social media, was the primary driver of the mental health crisis post-2010. He notes a peak in these issues around 2018, followed by a slight decrease, possibly indicating a waning influence of Common Core. Gray firmly rejects the notion that smartphones and social media are the main cause, characterizing the widespread concern as a "moral panic." He points to a vast body of academic research, including numerous studies and meta-analyses, which he claims demonstrates either no meaningful correlation or even beneficial effects of social media use on mental health. He argues that where correlations exist, longitudinal studies often suggest reverse causality: existing mental health issues might lead to increased social media use as a coping mechanism. Furthermore, Gray highlights a crucial geographical disparity: while the crisis dramatically escalated in the U.S., similar trends were not observed in the European Union, despite comparable social media adoption, which undermines a universal "social media as culprit" theory. Addressing individual parents' concerns about their children's smartphone use, Gray acknowledges their distress but cautions against drawing conclusions from anecdotal evidence, which can be influenced by prevailing societal fears and confirmation bias. He suggests that adults might misinterpret or overlook the potential benefits these technologies offer. Regarding potential regulations, Gray is skeptical about the efficacy of outright bans or strict age minimums, noting children's ability to circumvent such restrictions. He views smartphones as valuable tools for navigation, communication, and safety, and argues against removing them. While he might support age verification for explicitly harmful content like pornography, he considers social media age minimums a "violation of human rights," as they impede children's free speech, expression, and educational opportunities. Instead, Gray advocates for empowering children with knowledge and safety instructions, trusting them to learn to navigate the online world responsibly, much as children were once taught to navigate the physical world independently. Despite Haidt's significant influence, Gray remains hopeful that his research-backed theory will eventually gain traction. He draws parallels to past "moral panics" over video games and horror comic books, where initial public anxieties eventually gave way to a more nuanced understanding as scientific evidence emerged. Ultimately, Gray believes "the science will win out."