CYMHW: News

There are parents who let their kids sign up for social media as tweens, and there are those who "ban" their kids from having accounts. What's the right call? You might be surprised by what the pros have to say on this controversial subject. Vicki Harrison, program director of the Stanford Center for Youth Mental Health and Wellbeing, provides comment.

Vicki Harrison, Steven Adelsheim, and Anne Collier are editors of "Social Media and Youth Mental Health," a new book just announced by the American Psychiatric Association.

Increased rates of anxiety and depression in children and adolescents have coincided with a continued rise in average daily hours of youth digital media use. What do parents and educators need to know about media use and youth suffering from anxiety and depression?

To better serve mental health needs, Stanford Medicine faculty and staff are finding ways to support young people beyond their medical offices, working with schools, parents, municipalities and community organizations to bring stakeholders together and provide psychiatric care and expertise.

On March 13, leadership, staff and youth advisors participated in an event on youth online safety and well-being hosted by the Stanford Internet Observatory and Social Media Lab with the Stanford Center for Youth Mental Health and Wellbeing in collaboration with the White House Kids Online Health & Safety Task Force. The day opened with a panel on youth social media experiences led by Program Director Vicki Harrison and seven youth leaders from the Center's GoodforMEdia program. In addition to representatives from the Biden-Harris Administration, the event convened leaders from several major technology platforms, academic institutions and civil society groups, and served as one of three planned nationwide listening sessions to inform future research and forthcoming industry guidance, policy recommendations and resources. More coverage here.

Stanford Medicine’s Vicki Harrison explains the forces impacting youth mental health today, and why it’s so important to involve teens in solutions.

Mental health expert encourages parents to involve teens in setting guardrails for safe and healthy social media use.

Learn more about the US effort to implement the headspace model of mental health early intervention for young people ages 12-25 based in Australia.

Students weigh in on how schools can help support their mental health.

Some tweens and younger teenagers may have difficultly understanding the motives behind social media content, or discerning fact from misinformation. Vicki Harrison, program director at the Stanford Center for Youth Mental Health and Wellbeing, provides comment about the advisory and how parents can guide their teens toward healthier social media use.

Click to watch a video congratulating members of the inaugural Responsible Technology Youth Power Fund cohort, which includes #GoodforMEdia, a youth-led program of Stanford Psychiatry’s Center for Youth Mental Health and Wellbeing, that tackles the positive and negative aspects of social media.

One Mind, in partnership with Meadows Mental Health Policy Institute, convened several virtual meetings of mental health researchers, clinicians, and other stakeholders in 2020 to identify first steps toward creating an initiative for early screening and linkage to care for youths (individuals in early adolescence through early adulthood, ages 10–24 years) with mental health difficulties, including serious mental illness, in the United States. This article synthesizes and builds on discussions from those meetings by outlining and recommending potential steps and considerations for the development and integration of a novel measurement-based screening process in youth-facing school and medical settings to increase early identification of mental health needs and linkage to evidence-based care.

Partnerships between Stanford and community entities were recognized March 3 for their sustained work to support youth mental health, the needs of domestic violence survivors, and adaptation in the frontline communities that will be most impacted by climate change. Congratulations to all involved with the Stanford Redwood City Sequoia School Mental Health Collaborative - an award recipient this year - including the Redwood City School District, the Sequoia Union High School District, the John W. Gardner Center for Youth and their Communities, and the Center for Youth Mental Health and Wellbeing at Stanford.

In a midtown neighborhood shopping center in Palo Alto, an innovative model for prevention and early intervention for youth mental health challenges is an open door for young people. Called “allcove,” it’s one of several such centers taking shape across California, and the first of its kind in the United States.

Located in Redondo Beach, on the coastal edge of Los Angeles County, allcove Beach Cities opened Nov 1 to serve the young people, families and community of the South Bay. allcove Beach Cities' opening is the culmination of many years of collaborative partnership and work. The center will serve young people ages 12 to 25, providing a unique place for them to access support. It is designed to create meaningful, positive experiences for every young person who comes through its doors.

Beach Cities Health District held a ribbon-cutting Oct. 18 for allcove Beach Cities (spelled with a lowercase ‘a’), the first branch of a youth mental health program developed at Stanford University. The Redondo Beach facility – to open on the fourth floor of the former South Bay Hospital at the BCHD’s main campus, serves people ages 12 to 25. State Assemblyman Al Muratsuchi attended the ribbon-cutting, along with a team from Stanford’s Center for Youth Mental Health and Wellbeing, led by Dr. Seven Adelsheim, who created the program.

Tech, and especially social media, has a dark side that harms children. It’s a reality that lawmakers have yet to effectively address. Read more in this opinion piece written by Emily and Sonia, co-founders and peer leaders with #GoodforMEdia, a campaign created by young people to support healthy social media engagement.